"Why Can't I Get a Job?" 40s Man Smashes Polling Station Door in Drunken Rant... Turmoil Keeps Busan Polling Station Restless

Busan Police Agency, 1 Case of Property Damage and 3 Cases of Disturbance at Polling Stations... 1800 Personnel Deployed to Strengthen Patrols

The entrance door of a polling station in Mora-dong, Sasang-gu, Busan, damaged by a drunken man in his 40s on the 7th. [Image source=Busan Police Agency]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] On the 7th, during the April 7 Busan mayoral by-election, a drunken man in his 40s was caught by the police after breaking the glass door of a polling station in Busan.

Busan Police Agency announced that they plan to book Mr. A, a man in his 40s, on charges of property damage.

According to the police, Mr. A smashed the glass door on the first floor of a building housing a polling station in Mora-dong, Sasang-gu, at around 10:05 a.m. that day.

Mr. A, intoxicated, reportedly caused a disturbance saying, "Welfare recipients cannot get jobs."

The police determined that since the polling station is on the second floor of the building, the damage to the first-floor glass door cannot be charged as election interference, and instead applied the charge of property damage.

Election interference charges apply when assault or threats are made against election officials or election materials are seized, so the police judged that the first-floor glass door at the building entrance cannot be considered election materials.

Also, the charge of causing a disturbance inside or outside the polling station requires noncompliance with election officials' orders, so it was deemed difficult to apply in this case.

Until the morning of that day, three other disturbances were reported at polling stations in the Busan area via 112 emergency calls, but voting proceeded without any major incidents.

According to the Busan Police Agency, three election-related 112 calls were received between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. that day.

At 6:02 a.m., in front of the Jwacheon 1-dong Community Center in Dong-gu, Ms. A (female, 50s) caused a disturbance toward a voter coming to vote.

The police who arrived at the scene identified Ms. A as intellectually disabled and sent her home.

At around 6:27 a.m., an unusual disturbance occurred at Polling Station 5 in Amnam-dong, Seo-gu.

Mr. B (male, 70s) caused a commotion because he could not vote. Although Mr. B moved in on March 22, the polling station is determined based on the status as of March 16. Mr. B should have gone to the Saha-gu polling station. The police who responded guided him through the voting procedure, calmed him down, and sent him home.

At around 7:54 a.m., Mr. C (male, 70s) caused a disturbance by shouting loudly at Polling Station 2 in Noksan-dong, Gangseo-gu.

The police who arrived had difficulty calming Mr. C, who complained, "The voting guidance is inadequate, and the facilities are a mess."

Busan police have deployed 1,834 officers to 917 polling stations across the Busan area to strengthen patrols.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.