Acting Police Chief Kim Jong-chul: "Police Force Deployment Will Be Considered If Necessary Over Ballot Counting Site Protest"

Acting Police Commissioner General Kim Jong-chul (someone who temporarily assumes the duties when the commissioner's post is vacant) said during a National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee audit on the 12th that, regarding the "ballot counting site blockade protest" at Olympic Park in Songpa District, Seoul, "police force deployment will be considered if necessary." Answering a question from Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-jin on rally control and management at the audit held at the National Police Agency in Seodaemun District, Seoul that day, Acting Chief Kim explained that the rally has been proceeding in an unreported form, with citizens attending voluntarily without an organizer. Asked whether the Olympic Park rally was legal, he replied, "It is not."

Acting Chief Kim said that both unlawful protest behavior and the number of participants had declined significantly compared with the early days of the rally. He explained that even an unreported rally can be ordered to disperse if it infringes on others' legal interests or poses a clear danger to public safety and order.

Citing data submitted by the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, Rep. Kim said the estimated damage caused by the rally had reached 2.617 billion won as of September 8. Noting that the special prosecutor had announced it would conduct the on-site ballot count at the end of this month, Kim requested that police take legal steps such as persuasion and guidance to bring the rally to an end around the 20th, to which Acting Chief Kim replied, "We will do so."