By Kang Hyun-kyung

Some 30 officials from South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo had a close look at the National Assembly elections, Wednesday in polling stations in Seoul.

The officials watched voters casting their ballots at a polling station and how candidates launched campaigns in Seoul earlier.

The National Election Commission (NEC) said 10 election watchdog officials from South Africa came to Seoul for a 13-day trip to take a close look at how the parliamentary elections were conducted here and how candidates wooed voters.

From Congo, 21 officials arrived in Seoul on April 8 for the same purpose. They will stay here until April 24.

According to the NEC, the African officials are here to observe the parliamentary elections and learn about operating transparent and democratic elections. They also attended educational programs and a seminar to learn about the local election system.

Some of the officials were quoted by the NEC as saying that they were impressed by the organized, speedy and accurate voting system. South African officials were amazed at watching a vote counting machine as workers in their homeland count ballots by hand.

South Korea is viewed as a country that has an advanced and transparent election system.