South Korea's President Calls for Peace After Election Problems

South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung asked protesters to be more peaceful on June 15. The protesters are angry about problems that happened during local elections on June 3. Lee said the protesters should not block other people from doing their work. He wants them to express their opinions without hurting others' rights.

The protests are happening at Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea's capital city. Protesters have been blocking people from entering buildings where sports organizations work. This has made it hard for these groups to do important work for South Korean athletes. Some athletes might not be able to compete in international sports events because of these delays.

President Lee said police should investigate people who are blocking others by force. He wants to find out who planned these actions too. Lee wrote about this on social media platform X. He shared a news report that showed how the protests were causing problems for workers.

The day before, Lee had criticized the National Election Commission for doing a bad job during the June 3 elections. He said the commission's mistakes hurt people's right to vote. But Lee also warned against false conspiracy theories about the election. Some people claim the election was rigged or stolen, but Lee says these claims are not true.

The problems started when some voting places ran out of ballot papers on election day. This caused voting to stop or be delayed at several locations. Lee said he understands why people are upset about these voting problems. However, he thinks there is a big difference between criticizing poor management and claiming the election was fake.

Lee said some people spreading false claims about election fraud have threatened police officers and regular citizens. They have also done strange searches and blocked access to buildings. The President believes these people should face punishment according to the law. He said there are clear rules that everyone must follow.

The President wants a complete and honest investigation into what went wrong during the elections. He hopes this will help prevent similar problems in the future. Lee said the country needs to use this situation to make democracy stronger. He believes people should be allowed to criticize and suggest better ways to run elections.

Lee also asked the National Election Commission to work closely with lawmakers who are investigating the election problems. This parliamentary investigation could start as early as this week. He wants prosecutors and police to work together to find out who is responsible for the voting failures. The President said it is time for the whole society to respond properly to people's anger about these election issues.