Rival parties clash over ballot recount schedule, special prosecutor link at first NEC hearing

The National Assembly's special parliamentary investigation committee on the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections held its first hearing Tuesday. The Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party clashed again — this time over whether to proceed immediately with a public recount of ballots stored in the basement of the Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa, and whether to link that recount to a special prosecutor investigation.

The hearing followed agency briefings, on-site inspections and expert consultations. The committee summoned about 90 witnesses and 15 reference persons, including acting National Election Commission Chairman Wi Cheol-hwan, former NEC Chairman Noh Tae-ak and other current and former NEC commissioners.

Committee Chairman Yun Sang-hyun said it was time to reach a conclusion on discussions over a public recount of the 2.47 million ballots stored in the Songpa Handball Gymnasium basement. "I also propose to the floor leaders of both parties that the committee pass a resolution urging the swift enactment of a special prosecutor act," he said.

The Democratic Party called for the recount to be conducted "immediately, so that not a single doubt remains," while the People Power Party pushed back, arguing that "the special prosecutor must be launched quickly and linked to the recount."

At the hearing, a bid to call Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back as witnesses was blocked by the Democratic Party, the ruling party. The committee plans to hold a second hearing July 22 before adopting a final investigation report.

Former Chairman Noh accepted criticism from Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seong-hoe, who said the NEC had enjoyed its privileges while failing to carry out its core duties. "I will take that criticism to heart," Noh said.

Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry had reported just one incident involving absentee ballots cast by military personnel during the June 3 local elections at its parliamentary investigation briefing. A follow-up review has since confirmed 39 similar cases in total.

Documents obtained from the Defense Ministry through the office of People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye showed that problems recurred at every stage — from the application process to ballot management — including absentee ballot applications rejected due to address errors and registration forms lost during postal delivery.

The Defense Ministry had told the committee's second agency briefing on July 1 that the only voting incident within the military was a double-voting case at an Army 15th Division general outpost unit, which had been previously reported. A subsequent full review found a total of 39 absentee ballot-related incidents.

The most common problem among the 39 cases was address entry errors, accounting for 30 incidents. At the Army 1st Corps, 13 soldiers had their absentee ballot applications rejected after writing incorrect addresses on their registration forms. At the 2nd Marine Division, 10 service members were excluded from absentee voting eligibility due to similar address errors.

The Defense Ministry conducted a full survey of voting rights violations affecting enlisted soldiers and junior officers for one week beginning July 6, and has decided to expand mandatory education on absentee voting procedures and precautions to all service members to prevent a recurrence.

"Systemic reform is needed to ensure that service members' voting rights are never again violated by poor military election management," lawmaker Kim said.