Standoff as Sports Organizations Attempt to Enter Blockaded Facility... Police Warn of "Obstruction of Business"

[Anchor]

Sports organizations attempted to re-enter the vote-counting center at Olympic Park in Seoul this morning (June 16), where a blockade protest has been ongoing. A standoff ensued as protesters blocked their path, and police have warned that interfering with their entry could lead to a criminal investigation.

Reporter Jeong Ji-yeon has the story.

[Reporter]

This is the handball stadium at Olympic Park in Seoul, which has been under a blockade protest for 12 days as a vote-counting center for the June 3 local elections.

Protesters are blocking police officers wearing fluorescent vests.

Around 9:00 a.m. today, sports organizations housed within the stadium attempted to enter the facility, but protesters resisted, leading to a continued standoff.

[Official from a sports organization: Please let us take them out. Please. We are just trying to enter our own office, why are you blocking us?]

Some protesters demanded to enter the stadium together, but there has been no progress due to concerns from the sports organizations regarding potential information leaks and the opposition from protesters who refuse to allow even that.

As the standoff continued, police issued three repeated warnings, stating, "If you obstruct officials from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee from entering the stadium, you may become subject to a criminal investigation."

[Police: If you obstruct them, it may constitute the crime of obstruction of business under the Criminal Act.]

Since the stadium, which was used as a vote-counting center following the ballot shortage incident, has been blockaded by protests, the sports organizations held their second press conference yesterday. They appealed for help, stating that "the livelihoods of coaches and athletes are at stake," and requested the intervention of public authority.

The police, who had previously focused on negotiations through police liaison officers to avoid physical clashes, had also signaled a tougher response starting yesterday.

(Video coverage: Yang Ji-hoon, Video editing: Choi Hye-ran)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.