How much did the NEC pay its commissioners in monthly allowances, and how many commissioners received them?

The payments to nine commissioners totaled 905.8 million won, or $676,000, from 2020 onward. The annual totals exceeded 100 million won.

Why are the NEC commissioners’ monthly allowances under investigation?

The payments were allegedly made under the label of supporting fair election promotion activity, even after the Board of Audit and Inspection warned they had no legal basis. The NEC is also suspected of using budgets allocated for other purposes to continue payments in 2024 and 2025.

What did investigators search during the second day of the NEC allowance probe?

The team searched 18 NEC offices, including those of the chairperson and secretary general, in Gwacheon. Officials also said investigators searched the home of a former secretary general.

Special counsel raids NEC headquarters for 2nd day over improper stipends

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Summary

The independent counsel team raided National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, for a second day Tuesday over suspected illegal monthly allowances for commissioners. Sixty-five personnel, including four prosecutors, searched 18 offices beginning Monday, and investigators also searched a former secretary general’s home. The probe concerns 905.8 million won paid to nine commissioners since 2020, despite an audit warning that the payments lacked a legal basis.

Key Facts

The allowances were described as supporting the commissioners’ fair election promotion activity.
Annual allowance totals exceeded 100 million won, the threshold for the crime of causing losses to state coffers.
The NEC is suspected of paying the allowances in 2024 and 2025 by reallocating budgets for other purposes, although no budget had been set aside for them.
The independent counsel team was launched in early September to investigate ballot shortages during June’s nationwide local elections and other suspected NEC irregularities.

By Yonhap

Published Nov 3, 2026 4:07 pm KST

The National Election Commission (NEC) headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times photo by Kang Ye-jin

Investigators raided the National Election Commission (NEC) headquarters for the second day Tuesday over suspicions that the election watchdog illegally paid commissioners monthly allowances even after the state auditor noted that such payments lacked a legal basis.

Sixty-five personnel, including four prosecutors, have been mobilized to search 18 NEC offices, including the offices of the chairperson and the secretary general, in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, since Monday, according to the independent counsel team led by special prosecutor Lee Tae-han.

The home of a former secretary general was also searched, officials said.

The independent counsel team has been investigating suspicions of irregularities involving the NEC after the team was launched in early September to look mainly into what led to the unprecedented ballot shortages in June's nationwide local elections and who is responsible.

Among the suspicions are allegations that the NEC illegally handed out monthly allowances to commissioners under the label of supporting their "fair election promotion activity," The amount paid to nine commissioners since 2020 totaled 905.8 million won ($676,000) and the annual totals exceeded 100 million won each, the threshold for the crime of causing losses to state coffers.

The allowances continued even after the Board of Audit and Inspection warned that such payments had no legal basis. In 2024-2025, no budget had been set aside for the allowances, but the NEC is suspected of going ahead and paying them by appropriating budgets for other purposes.

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