South Korea’s justice ministry has granted permission to impose a travel ban on the ex-chairperson of the National Election Commission (NEC) following an investigation into ballot shortages during recent local elections. The ban was enforced on Roh Tae-ak and other key officials at the request of the investigating team. A 13-hour raid was conducted at the NEC’s headquarters in Gwacheon and its local offices in Seoul, where documents related to ballot printing plans and budgets were seized.
The investigators plan to scrutinize the obtained documents to understand the decision-making process behind printing the ballots and the communication between polling stations and the NEC on the day of the local elections. Voting at 26 polling stations across the country, particularly in Seoul’s Songpa Ward, was briefly halted due to shortages, leading to protests demanding a re-run of the elections. The National Assembly has initiated formal procedures for a potential parliamentary investigation into the ballot shortages, with requests from both ruling and opposition parties being presented.
The establishment of a special parliamentary committee to investigate alleged mismanagement by the National Election Commission is underway, with negotiations expected on the scope and composition of the probe. The opposition party suggests a special counsel probe alongside the parliamentary investigation, while the ruling party prefers addressing this after the parliamentary probe. Discussions are ongoing to adopt a plan for the parliamentary probe in a plenary session scheduled for the following week.
