Fencing team forced to compete with borrowed gear as protest standoff continues

Korea's national fencing team was forced to leave for the Asian Fencing Championships with borrowed gear on Tuesday after protesters blocked access to equipment stored inside the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa District, southern Seoul.

The athletes’ equipment was reportedly inside the gymnasium, which is currently occupied by protesters demanding a do-over of the June 3 local elections due to ballot shortages. The Korea Fencing Federation (KFF) is one of nine sports organizations under the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee with offices inside the facility.

Heading into Friday's championship games in New Delhi, 13 Korean fencers — including Olympic gold medalists Oh Sang-uk, Park Sang-won, and Do Gyeong-dong — had to depart with jackets and sabers borrowed from other athletes due to the blockade.

A request by the KFF to allow athletes competing in the tournament to collect their equipment was denied until the very last moment before their departure.

"We couldn't retrieve the fencing equipment stored inside the currently blocked-off Olympic Handball Gymnasium," a KFF representative told local news outlet Yonhap. "It's literally every man for themselves."

A last-ditch effort to allow sports organizations back into their offices collapsed due to a lone protester. 

Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), proposed a compromise under which two representatives from each sports organization would be allowed to enter their offices to retrieve work-related materials. The visits would be accompanied by PPP lawmakers and two television cameras broadcasting live.

Jang announced the proposal at around 2:10 p.m. on Tuesday, and the crowd on site reportedly approved the plan.

As the agreed-upon sports representatives and reporters got ready to enter the building, a woman wearing a U.S. flag around her waist planted herself in front of the door, blocking the entry.

PPP lawmakers and other protesters tried to persuade her to move aside for two hours but to no avail.

Jang ultimately called off the entry effort and withdrew.

There are no authorized protest leaders to direct participants or enforce agreements because the protest is largely a grassroots movement with no formal leadership or organizing body.

BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]