'Stop the Steal' signs appear as Jamsil vote-count protest enters fifth day

The protest blockade outside the Jamsil vote-counting center has taken on a deeper political hue as hard-line conservative "asphalt" groups have joined the demonstration in growing numbers.

Around midnight Tuesday, the fifth day of the protest, a significant number of participants carrying American flags were spotted near the handball arena at Olympic Park in Seoul, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Large American flags were on display alongside placards bearing slogans popular among election-fraud conspiracy groups, including "Stop the Steal."

One participant walked through the crowd carrying an oversized sign reading "MAGA" — Make America Great Again.

Elderly participants wearing ROTC caps or matching group uniforms were also seen lecturing younger protesters nearby, asking whether they knew about the May 18 pro-democracy uprising and why President Syngman Rhee had resigned.

Politically charged signs were plentiful throughout the crowd.

Some participants taped printed messages to building walls and ticket booth windows reading "Lee Jae Myung, take responsibility for the violent police crackdown," "Yoon Suk Yeol was right," and "Martial law was justified."

The political messaging drew pushback from younger protesters, sparking a series of confrontations.

Around 4:20 p.m., a bus bearing banners with anti-government slogans such as "Criminal regime" and "Dismantle prosecutors, seize the judiciary" attempted to enter the handball arena parking lot. Some protesters blocked it, banging on the vehicle and shouting, "Keep politics out of this."

Around 6 p.m., a vendor selling American flags packed up after other participants objected. Police also intervened when middle-aged demonstrators hurled insults at a woman writing "Re-vote" on a sketchbook, accusing her of belonging to the progressive student group Daejinyeon.

Elsewhere in the crowd, other protesters continued demonstrating peacefully, chanting slogans and singing the national anthem.

Around 5 p.m., a large number of middle and high school students in uniforms joined the protest, along with an elderly person in a wheelchair holding a sign bearing the South Korean flag. As the evening wore on, couples with children became noticeably more common at the site.

A couple in their 30s pushing a three-year-old in a stroller while waving a South Korean flag said they wanted to "leave our child a healthy future." Another couple chanted "election fraud" slogans, asking, "Is this what a country looks like?"

As of midnight Tuesday, Seoul Metropolitan Government's real-time urban data put the crowd inside Olympic Park at between 6,500 and 7,000 people.

The park had been at its most crowded the previous day at 9 p.m., when between 12,000 and 14,000 people gathered.

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