According to political circles on the 7th, following the ballot shortage at Polling Station No. 2 in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, a rally by citizens demanding a re-election has continued in front of the Olympic Park Handball Stadium vote-counting center.
Protesters are maintaining a presence around the counting center, chanting slogans such as “Re-election” and “Protect our right to vote.” According to unofficial police estimates, approximately 33,000 people gathered at the site at one point yesterday afternoon, while organizers claimed that tens of thousands had assembled.
Young people in their 20s and 30s made up a significant portion of the crowd. Citizens continued the rally by voluntarily donating bottled water and food. Signs reading “Please just wave the national flag” and “This is a citizens’ movement, not a protest” were posted throughout the area.
The mood among rally participants generally focuses on issues of “re-election” and “violations of voting rights” rather than “election fraud.” However, the controversy continues as figures who have raised allegations of election fraud—including lecturer Jeon Han-gil, Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Freedom and Innovation Party, and Mos Tan, a professor at Liberty University in the U.S.—have also joined the rally.
The People Power Party is also focusing on framing this situation as a failure of election management by the National Election Commission rather than as a case of election invalidation or allegations of election fraud.
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk mentioned the need for a re-election during a press conference at the National Assembly today, stating, “The public wants a re-election, but if we try to brush this off with a parliamentary inquiry or settle it by replacing a few National Election Commission staff members, we cannot quell the public’s anger.”
He emphasized, “What the citizens currently calling for a re-election at Olympic Park want is for the flawed election to be corrected,” adding, “A re-election is not a matter of political advantage or disadvantage for parties, but a matter of the people’s right to vote and the legitimacy of the election.”
At the event, Representative Jang demanded an immediate meeting with President Lee Jae-myung. He urged Jeong Cheong-rae, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, to form a special parliamentary committee for the parliamentary inquiry and to swiftly launch a special prosecutor’s investigation. He also stated, “Early voting, which half the public distrusts, must be abolished,” adding, “Rather than dismissing it as the claims of those alleging election fraud, we simply need to nip the seeds of such allegations in the bud.”
In fact, while the People Power Party has recently stepped up its criticism of the National Election Commission, it has placed more emphasis on “flawed elections” and “institutional reform” rather than “election fraud.”
A key party official explained to this newspaper on the same day, “The main focus is not on abolishing early voting, but on responding to the infringement of voting rights,” adding, “We mentioned it as one of the measures to ensure the legitimacy and fairness of the vote.”
The official continued, “Whenever we make this point, we’re immediately labeled as proponents of election fraud, but this isn’t an issue that can be divided so dichotomously,” and emphasized, “The core issues are the National Election Commission’s inadequate election management and the infringement of voters’ rights.”
Meanwhile, Han Dong-hoon, an independent lawmaker who entered the National Assembly through a by-election, announced on the same day that he would introduce an amendment to the Board of Audit and Inspection Act—his “first legislative proposal”—to allow external audits of the National Election Commission. The amendment’s main provisions include adding a legal basis to Article 24 of the Board of Audit and Inspection Act to enable performance audits of the National Election Commission and election commissions at all levels, and implementing a comprehensive performance audit of the National Election Commission by the Board of Audit and Inspection.
In contrast, the Democratic Party of Korea countered that the People Power Party is focusing solely on political strife while shirking responsibility for its election defeat.
Kang Jun-hyun, the Democratic Party’s chief spokesperson, criticized the People Power Party, stating, “The Democratic Party has promised all measures to uncover the truth, including a parliamentary investigation, and is also reviewing the establishment of a reform body for the National Election Commission,” adding, “The People Power Party is solely blaming the president.”
