Election protesters, sports officials locked in standoff over entry to ballot-counting center

“Election protesters were locked in a tense standoff with sports officials Tuesday as their blockade of a gymnasium used for the June 3 local elections continued for the 12th straight day. Members of organizations under the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee attempted to enter the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in Seoul's southern Songpa Ward starting at 9 a.m. but were blocked by protesters demanding a rerun of the elections tainted by unprecedented ballot shortages at 26 voting stations across the nation. The sports organizations have been unable to access their offices housed inside the gymnasium since June 5, when the protesters began the blockade to prevent the removal of ballot boxes that were brought there for vote counting. The vote count for the local elections has already been completed. During the standoff, some protesters initially agreed to forming a monitoring team composed of an equal number of police officers and sports organization staff to oversee activities inside the gym. The agreement later fell through due to fierce backlash from other protesters. Police officers made

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