A woman in her 30s who attempted to block access to the Olympic Park handball venue, used as a vote counting center for the June 3 local elections, has avoided arrest.
According to legal sources on July 22, Seo Beom-jun, the chief judge of the Seoul Eastern District Court, dismissed the arrest warrant for the woman, identified as A, after a hearing the previous day, stating, "There is no concern for evidence destruction or flight."
The police had applied for a pre-arrest warrant for A on July 16, and the prosecution filed for the same on that day.
A is accused of obstructing work by preventing staff from entering the venue for about two hours after an agreement was reached between protest participants and the leader of the People Power Party, Jang Dong-hyuk, to enter the handball arena.
Despite attempts by Jang and Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korean Sports Council, to persuade her, A insisted that procedures to secure the ballots and ballot boxes must be completed first. Ultimately, access to the handball venue was denied.
Some have referred to A as the "Joan of Arc of Olympic Park," coining the term "Old Arc."
Judge Seo also dismissed the arrest warrant for a man in his 30s accused of illegally searching the junior handball team that entered the venue on July 8, citing no risk of evidence destruction or flight.
However, an arrest warrant was issued for one of three men accused of obstructing police by shouting "Chinese police" and blocking the road at the vote counting site on July 6. Judge Seo determined that, unlike the other two, this individual posed a flight risk due to the seriousness of the crime.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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