Police seek arrest warrants for 2 protesters who assaulted journalist at ballot-counting site

Police have moved to detain protesters who assaulted a journalist covering ballot counting during the June 3 local elections at a site in Jamsil.

The Seoul Songpa Police Station said Thursday it had applied for arrest warrants for a woman in her 30s and a man in his 20s on charges of assault causing injury and unlawful confinement. The two are accused of attacking a journalist on June 5 in front of the handball arena at Olympic Park, which was being used as a ballot-counting venue.

The JTBC chapter of the Korea Journalists Association had earlier said that some protesters who blockaded the handball arena — which served as the counting site that day — assaulted one of its reporters as he was leaving the venue.

According to the chapter, the reporter was attacked while trying to escape through a window after demonstrators blocked the exits.

Video footage that spread online showed a protester striking the journalist with their hand and throwing his mobile phone to the ground while demanding he prove he was not a National Election Commission employee.

"We plan to strictly investigate illegal acts at the ballot-counting site in accordance with the law and principles," a police official said.