Arrest warrant denied for woman accused of blockading vote counting center

A court on Tuesday denied an arrest warrant for a woman who staged a solo blockade of a Seoul vote-counting center last month amid protests calling for a rerun of the June 3 local elections.

The woman is accused of single-handedly blocking the entrance to the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in Songpa District, southern Seoul, which had been used as a ballot counting center, for about two hours on June 16 to prevent sports organizations based at the venue from entering.

The Seoul Songpa Police Station last week applied for the arrest warrant for the woman on charges of obstruction of business.

Following an arrest warrant hearing earlier Tuesday, the Seoul Eastern District Court rejected the warrant request, finding no risk that she would destroy evidence or flee.

Some conservative online communities nicknamed her "Oldarc," a portmanteau of Olympic Park and Joan of Arc, for her attempt to protect the ballot boxes. She entered the courtroom without answering any questions from reporters, including whether she admits to her charges.

Four men who allegedly committed offenses during their participation in the Olympic Park protests last month also attended their arrest warrant hearing at the same court on the same day.

One man is accused of illegally searching through the personal belongings of the members of the national women's youth handball team outside the stadium on June 8.

Three other men are accused of cursing at police officers and obstructing their duty.

The court granted an arrest warrant for only one of them.

The protests began after shortages of ballot papers were reported at multiple polling stations on Election Day, causing some voters to leave without casting their ballots.

Yonhap