Revote protest in Seoul shifts toward conservative 'election fraud' stance

A large protest to demand a revote, which has blockaded a ballot-counting station in southeastern Seoul for four days, began shifting on Sunday night toward the "election fraud" rhetoric long associated with the hard-line conservative rallies at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul.

“Election fraud. Revote.”

 The chant rang out around the handball gymnasium at Olympic Park in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on Monday morning. Hundreds of demonstrators have blockaded a ballot-counting station for four days, demanding a fresh vote after a ballot-paper shortage disrupted the June 3 local elections.

The shift in tone was stark. Through the weekend, the protest, largely comprised of people in their 20s and 30s, had policed its own ranks to keep the message narrow and nonpartisan, holding to a single slogan: "Revote."

But by Monday, signs reading "Wave only the Korean flag" had been torn down or rewritten to allow U.S. flags or read "Election-fraud chants permitted" — rhetoric long associated with the hard-line conservative rallies at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul.

Police unofficially counted about 950 people around the venue at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. The crowd had numbered roughly 8,000 at midnight and thinned overnight, though some demonstrators held their spots on the lawn with picnic mats. People in their 20s and 30s appeared to make up about half of those present, a smaller share than the day before but still substantial.

The "election fraud" chant took hold, according to one participant, after those who subscribe to the election-fraud theory began accusing demonstrators who urged the crowd to stick to "revote" of being members of a left-leaning student activist group. Posts spread on social media, claiming the group's "directive had been leaked" and urging participants not to cooperate with anyone trying to drop political slogans such as "arrest Lee Jae Myung" or work with the police. Other posts said that some participants had left the protest after being suspected of ties to the group.

One couple, who had come every day since the protest began, said that they chanted the fraud slogan by choice.

"It's not just about a revote. When it comes to election fraud, […] that has to be corrected, so we chant [this slogan] together," they said. "The election itself has to be fixed so that voting happens only on Election Day, and ballots are counted on-site."

Lee, a self-described Songpa District resident, was sympathetic.

"Most of the people who come out here are students in their 20s and 30s, and the fact that they are shouting like this shows how serious the problem is," Lee said. "The current government needs to resolve it quickly with a revote."

Some demonstrators again wrapped duct tape around their forearms like armbands and handed out snacks to fellow protesters on Monday. In the morning, Hwang Kyo-ahn, the leader of the Freedom and Innovation Party and a proponent of election-fraud claims, livestreamed footage on YouTube of himself and others chanting with the crowd and encouraging them to continue.

BY KIM YE-JUNG, IM SOUNG-BIN [[email protected]]