South Korea's Electoral Controversy Ignites Protests

In South Korea, around 10,000 protesters demanded a re-run of recent local elections due to a ballot shortage, disrupting voting at several stations. The issue led to the resignation of the National Election Commission head. Calls for an investigation and the commission's disbandment have followed.

Protesters gathered outside a ballot-counting site in South Korea on Saturday, staging a second day of demonstrations to demand a rerun of local elections held earlier in the week.

The protests attracted an estimated 10,000 citizens to SK Olympic Handball Stadium, where votes were counted from Wednesday's elections for mayors, local officials, and assembly members. A shortage of ballots sparked the unrest, preventing some voters from casting their votes and leading to the resignation of the National Election Commission's head.

Fifty out of 14,300 polling stations experienced a ballot shortage, causing temporary voting suspensions at 22 locations. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized the shortage as an 'intolerable' rights violation, demanding the election commission's disbandment and a special investigation. Protesters, among them conservative YouTubers, called for an election re-run.