Ruling, opposition parties clash again over ballot recount at second NEC hearing

The National Assembly's special committee on the parliamentary investigation into the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections held its second hearing at the National Assembly on Wednesday, questioning NEC acting chairman Wi Cheol-hwan and other officials in a bid to uncover the truth.

Ruling and opposition lawmakers clashed from the outset over whether to conduct a public recount of the roughly 2.47 million ballots stored at Olympic Park in Seoul's Songpa-gu. The dispute had already delayed the start of the hearing by about 20 minutes after a closed-door preparatory session failed to narrow the differences.

Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Jeong Chun-saeng, speaking first at the hearing, said he had expected a motion to recount the Songpa-gu ballots — a measure the NEC chairman himself had previously proposed — to be on the agenda, but it had not been included. "Conducting the recount quickly is the only way to dispel the various allegations and relieve the inconvenience to sports organizations that have been shut out of Olympic Park for so long," he said. He called for the recount motion to be added as a supplementary agenda item, noting that the ruling and opposition parties had already agreed on a special prosecutor.

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Yong-man also said PPP committee chairman Yun Sang-hyeon and Rep. Choi Bo-yun had been the first to propose a recount during an earlier agency briefing. "The Jamsil ballot box issue needs to be verified publicly by the special committee and shown to the public," he said. "It would also be possible to record the process and hand it over to the special prosecutor."

The PPP, while acknowledging the need for a recount, maintained that the special prosecutor investigation must come first.

Rep. Ju Jin-woo said a recount is not a procedure defined under the Public Official Election Act but one the special committee would be creating from scratch. "The ballot boxes could already be subject to the special prosecutor's investigation — would the public trust the results of a recount led by NEC staff?" he said.

He added that even if a recount were conducted, the NEC would ultimately have to carry out another recount for it to have legal force. "With allegations of ballot shortages and miscounted results raised across the country, recounting only Songpa-gu would not resolve all the suspicions," he said. "It is not too late to discuss this after the special prosecutor conducts an objective investigation."

Some PPP members also argued that the timing of the special prosecutor's launch and any recount by the special committee should be coordinated.

Rep. Park Su-min said a recount is necessary, but added: "Since the special prosecutor is also investigating the same matter, it is reasonable from the public's perspective to align the timing. The ruling and opposition parties should quickly agree on when to launch the special prosecutor's office, and the special committee's schedule can proceed accordingly."