Reform bills targeting election watchdog pile up as internal discipline draws scrutiny

Only two of the nine members of the National Election Commission showed up at its headquarters on the day of the June 3 local elections, newly released data shows. As reform legislation targeting the NEC piles up in the National Assembly, critics say the real starting point must be fixing the commission's internal disciplinary system, which has repeatedly let misconduct slide with little more than a slap on the wrist.

According to data obtained by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye from the NEC, then-NEC Chairman Noh Tae-ak and standing commissioner Wi Cheol-hwan were the only two who came into the commission's office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on June 3.

The seven non-standing commissioners did not report to the office that day. The NEC said non-standing members do not typically come in on local election day because there are no decisions requiring their presence. Separately, according to the office of Democratic Party lawmaker Yun Geon-young, Noh came into the NEC headquarters on only 29 of the 60 statutory working days — 48.3 percent — between March 3, when he retired as a Supreme Court justice, and June 3. Even counting eight days when he had no attendance record due to outside engagements such as visits to regional election commissions, his total working days reached just 37, barely clearing 60 percent of the statutory total. However, the NEC chairmanship is a non-standing post with no fixed attendance requirement.

As the NEC's shortcomings have come to light one after another in the wake of the ballot paper shortage crisis, calls in political circles for a sweeping overhaul of the commission have grown louder.

People Power Party lawmaker Park Sung-min introduced legislation that would require an NEC chair who was a Supreme Court justice at the time of election to step down when that justice's term expires, and would abolish commissioners' immunity from arrest and their exemption from military call-up. Fellow PPP lawmaker Yoo Yong-won introduced an amendment to the NEC Act that would establish an inspector general at the commission and require an annual audit report to be submitted to the National Assembly before the regular session opens.

Constitutional reform has also entered the conversation. Kim Young-bae, a Democratic Party lawmaker serving as deputy head of the party's electoral system reform task force, outlined a two-stage plan on a radio program Monday: first pursue statutory amendments to convert the NEC chairmanship into a full-time standing post and expand the number of standing commissioners, then push a "single-issue constitutional amendment" to allow audits by the Board of Audit and Inspection.

Critics note, however, that the NEC has repeatedly closed out misconduct cases with light disciplinary measures, and argue that meaningful internal discipline must come first as the foundation of any broader reform.

Political commentator Park Chang-hwan said public consensus on the need for external checks and oversight had already formed, pointing to controversies over preferential hiring of commissioners' children and the pattern of lenient punishment. "As an independent institution, its capacity for self-correction has fallen far short of the accountability expected of it," he said. "Whatever organizational changes come next, that has to improve."