A woman is blocking entry to the Olympic Park Handball Stadium like 'Joan of Arc' on the 16th. [Mijung Gallery Capture]  

Confrontation ongoing since morning, then People Power Party-Sports Council announce some agreement

Attempt to open entry passage from 2 PM, citing justification

Patriotic woman firmly holds door, resisting... entry thwarted

Shocking statement from group around Jang: "Let's kill that person and go in"

Domestic and international SNS explode with support for 'Joan of Arc', 'Oly-dar'k', 'Hero'

From 5 PM, "Election fraud, re-election" chants resume, peace restored

Following Lee Jae-myung's departure abroad amid a situation where the right to participate in politics for citizens is being deprived, and after his de facto order for the dissolution of the sports council, the sports council and police attempted to forcibly enter the counting station, where the election was not yet over, without a warrant, but were blocked by a woman wearing the Stars and Stripes around her waist.

On the 16th, the Sports Council and police attempted to forcibly enter the counting station at the Olympic Park (Oly-gong) Handball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul. However, their attempt was ultimately thwarted by a woman, nicknamed 'Joan of Arc', who held onto the door until the very end without letting go.

Starting at 9 AM that morning, sports organizations under the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation presented their justification for entry, claiming they needed to retrieve items from inside the stadium, and stormed towards Gate 2-1. The police, signaling a potential forceful crackdown if their entry was blocked, issued warning broadcasts at least twice before initiating the forceful entry.

However, as entry was repeatedly frustrated by the resistance of patriotic citizens, leading to a tense standoff, Jang Dong-hyuk, the leader of the People Power Party, who visited the site, announced at 2 PM that an unspecified agreement had been reached with the Sports Council. As those present responded with "We agree," it seemed the passage would be opened.

Jang Dong-hyuk stated, "This was decided by the association, not the People Power Party. Two cameras from KBS and TV Chosun will enter together," implying there would be no issues with entry. A group of individuals with unclear affiliations present applauded and agreed.

At this moment, a woman strongly protested with shouts, and the group that seemed to agree with Jang's remarks retorted and criticized her, causing a commotion.

Soon after, as the atmosphere shifted towards allowing the Sports Council to enter, patriotic citizens from other locations arrived at Gate 2-1, strongly protesting, asking, "Who allowed entry?" and "Who agreed?" escalating the tension. In contrast, a masked man was captured on video shouting, "We can't see the evidence if not now."

On the 16th, a patriotic woman gently brushes away the Taegeukgi held by someone next to her, covering her back. [SNS GIF]A video also captured the patriotic woman, who was resisting fiercely, gently brushing away the Taegeukgi that someone was using to cover her body. This woman was wearing the Stars and Stripes around her waist.

This led to the interpretation that the woman valued the Stars and Stripes as much as the Taegeukgi. At the Olympic Park site, there were multiple instances of people asserting that the Stars and Stripes should be allowed to be carried freely, while others argued that the Taegeukgi alone was sufficient and deliberately tried to obscure the Stars and Stripes.

Those who insisted on carrying the Stars and Stripes are interpreted as believing that the Stars and Stripes symbolize American intervention, and in the dire reality of South Korea, where legislation, administration, and judiciary are all controlled by anti-national forces, there is no other way to preserve the constitutional order and protect citizens' suffrage than through American intervention. They are seen as holding up the Stars and Stripes out of a sense of desperation.

Conversely, some netizens interpret those who exclusively possess the Taegeukgi as being primarily organized around the People Power Party. Their perspective is seen as aiming to conclude the issue with a "re-election" phase rather than investigating the truth of "election fraud."

However, given that both ruling and opposition parties have external board members involved in A-WEB (Association of World Election Bodies) in Incheon, widely considered a hotbed of election fraud globally, and the prevailing perception that the People Power Party cannot be a reliable command tower to ensure order at the site, along with the PPP's reluctance to even utter the words "election fraud," there's an understanding that external intervention, specifically U.S. investigation, is unavoidable. Consequently, the "ROK-US cooperation, international investigation" is being pushed as a new slogan, indicating that conflicts remain sharp at the scene.

Therefore, the interpretation among netizens is that the patriotic woman covering her body, adorned with the Stars and Stripes, with the Taegeukgi was not an act of patriotism symbolized by the Taegeukgi, but rather a deliberate gesture to conceal the Stars and Stripes.

Given the circumstances, the moment the patriotic woman, who was alone blocking the entry, carefully brushed away the Taegeukgi covering her back is seen as a symbolic expression of the differing views at the Olympic Park site regarding American intervention.

Ultimately, after the woman's stubborn resistance for nearly two hours, Party Leader Jang, around 4 PM that day, holding a speakerphone, stated, "One person is blocking the entrance, so it is not possible for us to enter," marking the first time he expressed an intention to abandon the entry attempt.

During this process, a man interrupted Jang and made a violent remark, saying, "We can just kill that person and go in." The shocked citizens present booed him loudly, momentarily intensifying the conflict.

Subsequently, as citizens from various locations continued to voice their dissent, stating, "We did not agree (to entry)," Jang calmed the atmosphere by saying, "Please listen, you can listen," and then announced, "It is not possible to bring out the items at this time, so we have ordered the withdrawal of Sports Council officials," bringing the standoff to an end.

Once the situation stabilized, patriotic citizens resumed their chants of "Election fraud, re-election" from around 5 PM, and peace was restored to Olympic Park.

On the 16th, the Sports Council attempts to enter the premises according to the agreement with the People Power Party. [Mijung Gallery Capture]Hwang Do-soo, former professor of Constitutional Law at Konkuk University, appeared on Lee Young-don TV and stated, "Since the election is not yet over, the Handball Stadium falls under the category of a counting station according to the Public Official Election Act. During an election, no one can enter a counting station without a court warrant, and this applies even to opposition party leaders. This is due to the lack of legal basis." He strongly condemned the attempt to enter using public authority.

The online space is also buzzing. Opinions are divided on whether the woman's actions were right or wrong.

This can be summarized as a difference in perceiving the critical constitutional crisis of depriving citizens of their right to participate in politics.

Given that "election fraud" is the core slogan that heated up Jamsil Stadium, it is understood that the prevailing public opinion among citizens visiting Olympic Park is that the most urgent task is to objectively verify whether there are fraudulent ballots in the ballot boxes at the counting stations. This is based on the recognition that South Korea's electoral democracy stands at a crucial test of truth like never before.

Therefore, those who believe that nothing is more important than the subversion of the constitutional order through election fraud highly praise the woman's actions. Indeed, on social media platforms like X, support is exploding with terms like 'Joan of Arc,' 'Oly-dar'k,' and 'Hero.'

International netizens are also outraged by the South Korean government's attempt to suppress the situation with force. A user named Christopher Kostic on X (formerly Twitter) commented, "She single-handedly stopped thousands. Pro-People Power Party YouTube channels are live-streaming and accusing her of being affiliated with Daejinyon. All of this is a communist commotion," vehemently criticizing the situation.

Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Freedom and Innovation Party, who departed for the United States on the 15th for joint ROK-US election fraud investigations, stated, "Who is reaching an agreement? The parties to the agreement are wrong, and the process of agreement is wrong. Are people who suddenly appeared making agreements?" he questioned the agreement process led by the People Power Party.

He further admonished, "Those who deny election fraud are paving the way for the release of evidence of election fraud. Under the guise of mediation. This time it's the Sports Council, but who knows if they will eventually create a path for the ballot boxes to be handed over?"

Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the Freedom and Innovation Party, posted on SNS on the 16th. [SNS Capture]