Police seek detention warrant for ‘Ol-d’Arc,’ lone woman who blocked entry to Olympic Park
Police requested a detention warrant for the internet-infamous woman accused of blocking officials from entering an Olympic Park vote-counting venue during a protest over ballot paper shortages.
A woman who prevented sports organization officials from entering during a protest that blockaded a vote-counting center in Songpa District, southern Seoul, speaks to reporters before undergoing police questioning outside Songpa Police Station in Seoul on July 10.
NEWS1
Police are seeking a detention warrant for a woman dubbed by internet users as "Ol-d'Arc." The nickname, a play on the combination of "Olympic Park" and "Joan of Arc," stuck after the woman single-handedly blocked sports officials from entering a vote-counting venue in southern Seoul for roughly two hours, in protest of a ballot paper shortage during the June 3 local elections.
The Songpa Police Station said Thursday it had sought the warrant on a charge of obstructing business.
The woman allegedly held shut the entrance doors of a handball arena at Olympic Park in Songpa District on June 16, preventing officials from sports organizations affiliated with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee from entering.
The officials had been set to enter after protesters and People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok reached an agreement allowing them inside. The woman, however, stood alone at the door and refused to let them through.
Jang and Korean Sport & Olympic Committee President Ryu Seung-min both tried to persuade her to step aside. She insisted that procedures to preserve the ballots and ballot boxes inside the arena needed to be completed first, police said.
The standoff earned her the nickname “Ol-d’Arc” on hard-line conservative online communities, where users voiced support for her actions.
Police opened an investigation on June 17 and questioned her as a suspect on Friday.
Separately, police also sought a detention warrant for a man over an unrelated incident at the same arena on June 8, in which women's junior national handball team members were allegedly searched unlawfully as they entered the venue. He is one of five suspects in that case and faces a charge of aggravated coercion.
Three other suspects, accused of damaging the entrance to the arena’s mechanical room and entering the facility without authorization on June 7, were referred to prosecutors without detention on charges of trespassing and damaging public property.
“We plan to strictly investigate illegal acts committed at the Olympic Park vote-counting venue, in accordance with the law and established principles,” police said.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
