South Korean Opposition Leader Demands Checks for Election Materials Removed from Sports Center

After 95 days of restricted access, sports organizations finally removed equipment, documents and laptops from an office at Seoul’s Olympic Park Handball Arena with police assistance. People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok, who visited the arena on Aug. 8, said the materials should now be examined closely.

Jang said that when sports officials first tried to enter the building, they had agreed not to remove computers, electronic equipment or USB drives. “Today, they removed everything,” he said in an appearance on PenNMike TV. He added that he had asked a special counsel’s office to determine whether any of the removed items were connected to elections and to investigate that possibility alongside the broader inquiry.

The earlier attempt to enter took place on June 16, when Jang helped mediate between sports officials and protesters who had blockaded the building while claiming that ballot boxes and ballots could be removed. The officials accepted conditions including two live-streaming cameras, staggered entry by organization and searches of belongings upon departure. They still failed to enter after a female protester held onto the door handle and refused to move.

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Among the items removed, including the electronic equipment, they must thoroughly check whether there are any election-related materials.

Jang’s role in that mediation drew criticism from fellow People Power Party lawmaker Han Ji-a, who said the dispute had not been resolved as an illegal blockade. Instead, she said, staff had negotiated for the protesters’ approval and were left to depend on permission from demonstrators even to enter their own offices.

The nine organizations operating in the arena had faced severe disruption for more than three months. The Korea Sports Association said the situation had become critical as the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Summer Games approached and applications opened for the 2027 university admissions track for sports-specialist students. Earlier, youth members of South Korea’s under-20 women’s handball team had also been allowed inside to retrieve training equipment, but protesters searched their belongings and accused them of being infiltrators. Kim Hyun-tae, a former commander later sentenced to 12 years in prison in a rebellion-related case, claimed without evidence that the athletes had disguised themselves to move ballot boxes.

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They did not resolve the illegality. They negotiated and sought the protesters’ consent.