20,000 Gather Outside Vote-Counting Center in South Korea, Demand New Nationwide Election

Protesters gathered after reports of ballot shortages, delayed voting, and voters leaving polling stations without being able to vote.

Thousands of citizens gather to call for a new election outside the Songpa District vote-counting center at the Handball Gymnasium in Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea, on June 6, 2026. Khasub Lee/Epoch Times Korea

SEOUL—Demonstrations demanding a new election shifted on June 6 to a vote-counting center in Seoul following a ballot shortage controversy during the June 3 election to select local government heads, local council members, and superintendents of education across South Korea.

On the afternoon of June 6, approximately 20,000 citizens—based on unofficial police estimates—had gathered around the vote-counting center established at the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium in Seoul’s Songpa District.