PM Kim calls for senior election officials to resign over ballot shortage

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said Sunday that senior officials at the National Election Commission should resign over the ballot shortage that marred the recent local elections, calling it a matter that warrants the departure of everyone above a certain rank within the agency.

Kim made the remarks at a forum with university students held at the Government Seoul Complex, saying he personally found the incident "absurd."

"This is something I have never heard of and something that should never happen," Kim said. "It is incomprehensible and inexcusable, so the outrage and demands for accountability are entirely justified." He called the shortage "an infringement on the right to vote and a challenge to the very foundation of democracy."

Kim said he had already directed the Interior and Safety minister to launch an investigation if legally possible, and that a parliamentary investigation or a special prosecutor could follow if necessary after National Assembly deliberations. "This is the current position of the government, including President Lee Jae Myung," he said.

He added that President Lee had expressed deep concern over the matter and called for a thorough investigation to establish the facts and assign responsibility.

"We will use every means available under current law," Kim said. "If legislative amendments are needed, we will see them through, even if it takes time."

Kim also said the election commission's monopoly over voting and election administration, combined with the absence of any external oversight or audit mechanism — including by the Board of Audit and Inspection — was a serious structural problem. "There needs to be systemic reform," he said.

He added that the government would work to establish a national framework for public discussion on the issue.

However, Kim stopped short of endorsing calls for a re-run of the elections. "Even after verifying the facts, whether a re-election is warranted is something that deserves further debate," he said. He noted that in some races the outcome was unaffected by the ballot shortage, and that whether a re-election would be appropriate in those cases — and whether the winning candidates would accept one — were separate questions.

"That is about as far as I can go at this point," he added. "I will give it more thought."