Woman referred to prosecution over blockade of vote counting center

A protester blocks officials of sports organizations under the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee from entering the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul's southern district of Songpa, June 16. Yonhap

A woman who staged a solo blockade of a Seoul vote counting center last month amid protests calling for a rerun of the June 3 local elections was referred to the prosecution on Friday, police said.

The Seoul Songpa Police Station said it sent the woman to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors Office without detention on charges of obstruction of business.

The woman, in her 30s, is accused of single-handedly blocking the entrance to the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in southern Seoul, which had been used as a ballot counting center, for about two hours on June 16 to prevent sports organizations based at the venue from entering.

Some conservative online communities nicknamed her "Oldarc," a portmanteau of Olympic Park and Joan of Arc, for her attempt to protect the ballot boxes. The protests began after shortages of ballot papers were reported at multiple polling stations on Election Day, causing some voters to turn back without casting their ballots.

The police requested an arrest warrant for the woman on July 21 but a court denied the request, citing no risk of flight and evidence destruction.