sports federations-election protest

▲ Police take down an election protest banner at the entrance of the Olympic Handball Gymnasium in southern Seoul on Sept. 8, 2026, to enter the stadium. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Yonhap) -- A group of national sports federations regained access to their offices Tuesday after being locked out for three months due to protests over ballot shortages during the June 3 local elections.

Members of nine sports federations under the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee entered their offices 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.

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.

The Olympic committee said it requested cooperation from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency last week to enter the stadium, noting it 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.

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