The court issued an additional preservation-of-evidence order to determine how the ‘ballot-paper storage box’ used at the No. 2 polling station in Jamsil 7-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul disappeared.

On the 12th, Kim Ji-yeon, the presiding judge of the Civil Single-Judge Division 51 at the Seoul Eastern District Court, announced that she had partially granted the application for preservation of evidence filed by Kim Jeong-cheol, a Supreme Council member of the Reform Party (former Seoul mayoral candidate).

The court ordered the Songpa-gu election commission to submit relevant records, including information on the waste-disposal company to which the ballot-paper storage box was handed over and the date, time, and circumstances of its disposal. The court also ordered the Songpa-gu election commission to submit ledgers and other documents regarding whether the ‘1,900’ ballot papers were indeed the quantity prepared for the No. 2 polling station in Jamsil 7-dong.

This decision is a follow-up measure in response to the disappearance of the ballot-paper storage box for which the court had issued a preservation order on the 9th. At the on-site inspection of the No. 2 polling station held on the 10th, the court attempted to secure the box but failed. The Songpa-gu election commission stated, “As a rule, after voting ends, storage boxes are disposed of internally.” In response, Kim, who had initially applied for preservation of evidence regarding the storage box, filed an additional application, saying, “I cannot accept that it was discarded and clarification is necessary,” and the court accepted it.

Kim also applied for preservation of evidence for ballot boxes and ballot papers reportedly kept at the Olympic Park counting center in Songpa-gu (Olympic Handball Gymnasium), but it was not granted.

Supreme Council member Kim wrote on his Facebook, “It is extremely difficult to understand why they would entrust the disposal of this box to a small, struggling waste company registered at a residential address,” adding, “If the election commission fails to provide a proper response under this second preservation-of-evidence decision and does not properly submit the documents it has been asked to submit, we will proceed with criminal complaints for destruction of evidence and dereliction of duty.”

Before the court's decision, far-right-leaning YouTuber Jeon Han-gil held a press conference from 2 p.m. that day at the Olympic Park counting center blockade protest site, saying he had secured the ballot-paper storage box discarded by the Songpa-gu election commission. Jeon's side stated at the briefing, “The box we secured is a Seoul mayoral election box,” and displayed a cardboard box on which ‘Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling’ and similar markings were written. Jeon's side said it had obtained it “through an anonymous tipster” and did not disclose the specific circumstances of how the box was obtained. They added that they would decide whether and how to submit it after seeing the investigative authorities' stance.