Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Election commission faces probe, major overhaul
Voters call for a nationwide revote after ballot paper shortages during the June 3 local elections disrupted polling at dozens of stations at a rally near the vote counting center in Songpa District, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
Criminal inquiry, mass rallies, reform bills pile pressure on troubled election body
The National Election Commission (NEC) is under criminal investigation and intense pressure to make sweeping reforms after unprecedented ballot paper shortages in the local elections last week triggered public fury and allegations of a systematic electoral failure.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Monday questioned Kim Soon-hwan, head of the People’s Welfare Countermeasure Committee, a Seoul-based nongovernmental organization. Kim lodged a complaint against NEC officials over cases in which many voters were unable to cast ballots because of the shortages.
Speaking to reporters, Kim likened the incident to the April 19 Revolution, the first democratic movement in Korea in 1960, calling it a major setback for democracy and a grave violation of Korea’s voting rights won through decades of struggle. His organization accused NEC Chairman Roh Tae-ak and others of abuse of power and dereliction of duty over the commission’s flawed handling of election resources.
Police are examining whether the NEC complied with its own standards for allocating ballot papers as well as the broader decision-making process that led to the shortages. Suspicions persist that the commission may have printed only about half the necessary ballot papers despite getting 110 percent of the required budget from local governments. Critics question how such mismanagement was possible even after a poll before the election showed 73.6 percent of respondents were certain they would vote.
This follows President Lee Jae Myung’s order for a thorough investigation on Sunday. A joint task force bringing together police and prosecutors is expected to be launched soon.
The crisis has sharpened long-standing doubts about the NEC’s competence and neutrality. According to the commission, ballot papers had to be resupplied to 67 polling stations out of 14,288 nationwide during Wednesday's elections and by-elections for the National Assembly. The affected sites included 35 polling stations in Seoul, eight in Busan, seven in Daegu, six in Incheon, three in Ulsan and eight in South Gyeongsang Province, with Seoul's Songpa District — a conservative stronghold — accounting for the largest single share at 15 polling stations. It remains unclear how many voters were ultimately unable to cast their ballots as a result of the disruption.
Lawmakers of the opposition People Power Party submit a motion at the National Assembly, Monday, calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the ballot paper shortage scandal. Newsis
Meanwhile, the Assembly is pushing for a parliamentary probe. The conservative opposition People Power Party’s (PPP) 110 lawmakers have signed a motion calling for an investigation. Its proposal covers the causes and circumstances of the shortages, the NEC’s decision to proceed with simultaneous voting and vote counting while refusing to halt the count, and a review of how many voters were effectively denied the chance to cast a ballot and what that means for the election’s validity. The same day, a similar proposal was submitted by the ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
Despite the NEC chairman’s offer to step down, public anger has not eased. As of Monday, thousands of people — many of them in their 20s or 30s — were staging a third straight day of rallies outside the main counting center in Songpa District, demanding a nationwide revote over the ballot shortage. What started as a small protest swelled into a major rally, with the crowd at one point surging past an estimated 30,000 people, according to police.
Amid the backlash, Rep. Han Dong-hoon has unveiled a three-part reform package targeting the NEC’s structure and oversight. On Monday, he announced a plan to make the NEC head a full-time post, ending the current system under which a Supreme Court justice doubles as chairman. Previously, he pledged a reform bill allowing the Board of Audit and Inspection to audit the NEC. Also, he said he would restrict NEC staff from taking extensive leave during election periods, after revelations of mass absences during recent votes.
Amid growing distrust in the NEC, conspiracy theories and doubts about the integrity of the vote are gaining ground.
In Songdo, Incheon, controversy erupted after early voting tallies for the Incheon mayoral race showed identical results for the two main candidates in both Songdo 1-dong and Songdo 2-dong: the DPK’s winner Park Chan-dae and his PPP rival Yoo Jeong-bok each received exactly 3,030 and 1,440 votes, respectively, despite different total voter numbers and differing counts of invalid and abstained ballots. Yoo’s camp has called this is “statistically almost impossible,” fueling suspicions among skeptical voters.
The Incheon election commission denied the allegations, saying the two precincts were processed by separate sorting and verification teams operating independently. The identical totals were a coincidence, not a counting error, the commission said.