Sports federations locked out of their offices by protesters blockading a former ballot-counting site retrieved national team equipment and work materials after 95 days, easing preparations for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Staff from nine member federations under the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee — including the Korea Handball Federation, the Korean Fencing Federation, the Korean Alpine Federation, the Korea Wushu Association and the Korea Sepaktakraw Association — entered the handball arena at Olympic Park in Seoul's Songpa district on the 8th. The building houses the offices of 15 sports federations.
It was the first access in 95 days since the blockade began on June 5 of this year. Police secured the entrance and movement routes that day. Federation staff removed computers, documents, competition equipment and accounting records that had been kept in the offices. The items were loaded onto six 1-ton trucks.
The handball arena had been used as a ballot-counting station for the June 3 local elections. Some protesters later blockaded the venue, alleging electoral fraud in connection with a shortage of ballot papers. Staff of the federations based in the building were blocked from entering in the process.
As the blockade dragged on, federation operations were disrupted. Beyond equipment support for national teams, administrative work such as settling accounts for competitions, paying athlete allowances and issuing certificates could not be carried out normally.
The most urgent task was retrieving supplies for the Asian Games. The fencing federation gave priority to national team equipment including blades, uniforms and fencing socks. With access to the office blocked, the federation had been forced to handle its work without its bankbook or official seal.
The alpine federation recovered administrative computers and accounting records. It also removed documents needed to pay athlete allowances, along with sponsored goods. Asian Games national team uniforms were also taken out of the office that day.
"The most urgent items were the athletes' competition uniforms," an alpine federation official said. "Supplies had been hard to come by, so athletes had been taking turns wearing the few uniforms available. Now that we have collected them from the office, it feels like we can finally breathe a little as we prepare for the competition." The handball federation deployed nine staff members to collect official seals, bankbooks, a scoreboard and other items needed to run the organization and hold competitions. The wushu association also recovered computer units, external hard drives, official seals and bankbooks. The sepaktakraw association removed national team supplies and competition settlement records, along with documents needed to issue performance certificates for student athletes. Administrative work put off during the prolonged blockade is expected to resume in stages.
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee said the entry "was carried out to remove urgently needed items, not to resume normal office operations." It added: "Now that we have secured Asian Games equipment, we will carry out our work so that there is no disruption to the operation of our national teams."
