Young people gathered around the circular handball arena.

The lid on election fraud has been opened. The true face has been revealed. 

After June 3rd, Jamsil emerged as a sacred site of the 21st-century Korean democratization movement. Following the incident at the Western District Court (Jan. 18-19, 2025), Korea had entered a new phase of civic revolution. At that time, the ruling faction attempted to label the Western District Court incident as violent rioting, brutally suppressing the sparks of civic revolution. 

One year and five months later. Now it is the hot summer of 2026. A long period of defeat, frustration, and endurance has passed. The revolution for democracy and freedom has reignited its flames at the Jamsil Olympic Park Handball Arena, following the fraudulent election of June 3rd.

The young people gathered around the circular handball arena were not instigated by anyone, nor was it at the request of a political group. They held up only drawings of the Taegeukgi like picket signs, shouting "New Election," with no other slogans or speeches. Even a white pet dog was seen carrying "New Election" in its mouth. The parents who brought their young children had bright and peaceful expressions. This slogan then progressed to "Fraudulent Election, New Election," moving one step closer to the core issue.

The primary method by which election fraud has been perpetrated in Korea is by manipulating the number of early votes and injecting physical ballots. First, a group of experts inflates the numbers for the Lee faction through internet hacking, and then, by any means necessary, they ensure the number is met with physical ballots by the time of vote counting. 

To forcibly make the number of physical ballots fit, the National Election Commission allowed pre-printed stamps to be used as official seals. This is the inference. Ballots printed at some location in advance are then massively released at polling stations on election day. In this process, abnormal phenomena occur, such as piles of 'brick-like' ballots, stacks of ballots like crisp banknote bundles, bundles of ballots where the glue from the printing process caused them to stick together, stacks of ballots made of 'memory paper' with no signs of folding, ballots from Samlip bread boxes, and ballots from baskets. 

No matter how much evidence was presented, it had not had a nationwide effect until now. The election commission, which controls the administration and judiciary, the leftists, the Democratic Party, the generation of Korean Teachers' and Education Workers' Union members around 50 years old, and the courts all deflected their crimes with logic such as "Bring us evidence," "It's poor quality, not fraud," "It's a conspiracy theory," and "It's delusion." They concealed it. 

The abstract nature of computers, IT, and the online world failed to awaken the public's senses and sense of justice. It seemed not to reach their skin. Things like piles of brick-like ballots were confined to YouTube channels. 

The experience at the Jamsil polling station on election day, June 3rd, was different. The young people felt a shiver at the fact that a single ballot, which should have been in their hands, was missing. It was an experience of absence, of having their right to hold it taken away. It was the paradoxical physicality of empty hands, of hands that felt hollow. 

It was a generation accustomed to the rights guaranteed by democratization, not to unjust loss. The experience of their right to vote being stripped away was a shock in itself. 

Abstract election fraud transformed into the vivid, tangible shock of a ballot not existing for oneself. This shift from abstract perception to concrete sensation elevated the 'Jamsil' area into an unexpected sanctuary of liberal democratic revolution in a short period. 

The brutal use of force by masked police, rumors of a youth falling into a coma, the staged resignation of Noh Tae-ak whose term had ended, the unbelievable explanations from election commission officials, the swift declaration of defeat by Lee, who had been far ahead, and the tense expression of Lee, who even stammered, all revealed the hidden face of election fraud. Fearing that election fraud would become widespread, they hastily threw out the "bait" of the Seoul mayoral election and are now waiting and watching, holding their breath.

Although the flames of the brewing revolution have been reignited, the outlook is not entirely bright. The ruling faction, driven by a sense of crisis, has inadvertently plunged itself into crisis by resorting to desperate measures like eliminating ballots to prevent voting. 

Representative Jang Dong-hyuk seemed to accept the slogan of the Jamsil revolution by demanding a "New Election." However, given that they were aware of Noh Tae-ak's term ending at the end of March and did nothing, the demand for a new election is likely a temporary measure to dampen public fervor. The possibility of a compromise with one or two symbolic new elections cannot be ruled out. 

Nevertheless, there are several key points.

First and foremost, the sense of crisis among the public who experienced and witnessed the June 3rd election fraud has reached its peak. Their fraud was successful in Busan, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, and Chungcheong, and the entire nation was painted blue. The public vividly witnessed the reality of fake opinion polls and exit polls connecting to pre-election and actual vote manipulation. 

Next, the bewildering experience of having their votes stolen on the ground makes the public realize that election fraud is not merely a conspiracy theory but a reality, and that President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of martial law had valid reasons. 

June 3rd makes us re-recognize President Yoon's 'enlightenment decree' and transforms sympathy and compassion for him into new support. This can bring about a significant change in the nature and flow of resistance that has been led by the "entupados" (likely referring to a specific group or ideology).

Furthermore, the so-called leftists are losing their ideological direction. Those who believed that anti-dictatorial democracy was their exclusive domain are now facing a liberal democratic revolution of an entirely different concept. Through the complete rejection and resistance of 20- and 30-something youth, and teenagers, they are forced to realize that the illusion they believed in is totalitarianism. 

No, even if they find some other reason for the Jamsil resistance, it will be futile. They will be completely rejected by future generations.

"If we don't fight now, we will lose our freedom forever."

These are the words of lawyer Park Chan-jong. I've seen him since I was in my 20s, and he is still strong. He has not lost his sense of justice. It is true. If we do not fight now, the recovery of democracy and freedom will be difficult. 

Even though the 'mouth-gag' bill is being passed, hope still remains for us. A resistance in its true sense has now begun, and coincidentally, the issue of the 2020 election fraud is also surfacing in the United States. The ruling faction is flustered and fumbling because June 3rd did not go as planned or calculated. We must fight now. We must not get tired. Hope for tomorrow is burning brightly. 

◆ Professor Bang Min-ho

Ph.D. in Literature, Professor of Korean Language and Literature at Seoul National University. He has been active as the editor-in-chief of the quarterly literary magazine 'Maeck' (since 2022), as well as a poet, novelist, and literary critic. His works include 'Lover Simcheong' (2015), 'Language of Pain' (2019), 'Rethinking Korean Criticism' (2021), and 'Seoul Literary Journey' (2024).