The National Assembly's special committee for a parliamentary probe (special committee) looking into the shortage of ballots in the 9th nationwide local elections (June 3 local elections) finished an on-site inspection of the vote-counting center in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 2nd. They left 35 minutes after entering.
Lawmakers on the special committee entered the interior of the Olympic Park Handball Arena, which had been used as the Songpa-gu vote-counting center, at about 1:11 p.m. that day. The handball arena had repeatedly been blocked from entry as a "blockade protest" continued since the 5th of last month. But police secured the 2-2 entrance that day, and the doors opened for the first time in 27 days.
At the site, lawmakers checked ballot storage boxes and other items. Inside offices, not only election equipment but also trash that had not yet been thrown away remained.
According to a report by the Songpa-gu election commission, the Olympic Park Handball Arena rental office currently holds 104 copies of the poll book, 27 copies of the early voting record, 146 copies of handover documents including ballot boxes and election-related papers, 460 copies of the vote-count status table, 428–434 boxes of ballot storage boxes, four ballot boxes from Jamsil 7-dong, election-related documents, ledgers for receipt and return processing for home voting, and storage boxes for envelopes containing miscast or miscategorized ballots.
However, they were not properly organized. When Yang Bu-nam of the Democratic Party of Korea asked, "I don't see the poll books—exactly where are they?", Kim Nam-hun, acting head of the Songpa-gu Election Commission Secretariat, replied, "We just couldn't stack the boxes by type, but everything is there."
The lawmakers then exited the handball arena at about 1:46 p.m. They left for the National Assembly by bus at about 1:59 p.m.
Protesters claim that the "evidence" inside the handball arena was contaminated by the special committee's visit. In particular, although the Songpa-gu election commission reported to the special committee a plan to move items inside, protesters say the items must not be moved until a special prosecutor is appointed or there is an international joint investigation.
Lawmakers on the special committee also say they should be cautious about moving items. They especially criticized the situation in which the election commission cannot check the internal closed-circuit (CC)TV footage in real time and is receiving it through arena personnel.
Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party said, "First, we need to check whether there are any blind spots in the CCTV," adding, "If we carelessly move ballot boxes now, it could cause greater suspicion."
As the special committee lawmakers departed, protesters repeatedly chanted, "Reelection for fraudulent elections, hand count on election day." Some protesters shouted, "Form a special counsel led by the opposition," and "Isn't this all rigged?"
Protesters continued their demonstration even after the on-site inspection. According to Seoul's real-time city data, as of 2 p.m. that day, the floating population around Olympic Park was 10,000–12,000. That is about 9% fewer than the average at the same time over the past 28 days.