Olympic Park protest forces venue changes, full refunds pledged for cancellations

Protests outside Ticketlink Live Arena (Handball Stadium) in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul have disrupted multiple scheduled events. Korea Sports Industry Development is now promising full refunds for any bookings cancelled as a result, pending review by its rental review committee.

The venue already owes partial refunds from Weverse Con Festival, the HYBE event held June 6–7. Facilities that could not be used during that weekend will be factored into the settlement. Fences installed during Weverse Con were put up at the organiser's request to prevent audience safety incidents, the corporation said. It plans to keep managing separate audience movement routes for future shows in coordination with promoters.

The protest's impact is already visible. Nexon moved its MapleStory summer showcase Overdrive, originally set for June 13 at the arena, to Kintex Hall 2, Exhibition Hall 9 in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. Seoul Park Music Festival (June 20–21) and singer Park Seo-jin's concert (July 4–5) remain scheduled at the same venue. Both are watching closely.

On June 8, national handball team players who came to retrieve training equipment were blocked from entering the building by protesters and had their belongings searched. The arena is a functioning sports facility, not just a concert hall.