Sports federations enter handball stadium 3 months into ballot shortage protest

A group of national sports federations on Tuesday entered their offices for the first time in three months after being locked out due to protests over ballot shortages during the June 3 local elections.

Members of nine sports federations under the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) made their way into their offices under police escort at the Olympic Handball Gymnasium in southern Seoul, which served as a ballot counting site for the local elections.

The sports bodies, including the Korea Handball Federation and the Korea Fencing Federation, had been unable to enter their offices as protesters refused to let them inside, raising concerns of evidence tampering.

Protesters first showed up at the sports arena on June 5 following the ballot shortages to block access to its entrances, claiming election fraud and demanding a rerun of the elections.

Around 50 protesters gathered at the stadium Tuesday but police installed barricades to block them. No physical clashes took place, according to the police.

The number of protesters has sharply declined in recent weeks after tens of thousands had gathered in the early days of the protests.

Police said a special counsel team investigating the ballot shortages and National Election Commission officials entered the site before the sports groups in order to preserve evidence, such as ballot papers.

Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the main opposition People Power Party, also visited the stadium to check if election equipment were properly preserved.

The Olympic committee said it requested cooperation from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to enter the stadium and take out their belongings, noting doing so was essential to prepare for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games set to kick off in Japan on Sept. 19.

The committee had previously tried multiple times to enter the stadium but they failed as protesters refused to cooperate.

Sports officials moved out boxes of belongings inside their offices Tuesday, including computers and documents, and loaded them on trucks waiting outside the stadium.

Some protesters complained about what the boxes contained and chanted slogans calling for a rerun of the elections.

Kim Dai-nyeon, secretary general of the KSOC, told reporters the federations had faced a lot of difficulties over the past three months as they were unable to access documents and equipment stuck in their offices.

"With the Asian Games just around the corner, we requested police cooperation, and I would like to express my deep gratitude to the police for their active cooperation and to the public for their support," he said.

A handball federation official voiced relief that they were able to enter their offices, noting they would have likely faced difficulties in providing support for athletes competing in the upcoming Asian Games if they remained locked out.

Police mobilized about 1,830 personnel for the operation, vowing to take stern measures against illegal activities, such as blocking sports officials from entering their offices.