Investigators find evidence of falsified voter turnout data, raid election commission offices

A joint investigative task force of prosecutors and police probing violations of citizens' voting rights during the June 3 local elections has found evidence that National Election Commission officials falsified voter turnout figures during the vote.

The task force, led by Kim Tae-hun, said Thursday it was executing search and seizure warrants against one official each from the National Election Commission and the Gyeonggi Province election commission on charges of falsifying public electronic records and obstructing the execution of official duties. The warrants were served at each official's office.

"We found evidence that officials from the National Election Commission and the Gyeonggi Province election commission entered false voter turnout figures during this local election," a task force official said.

The task force also conducted searches Thursday at the NEC headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, as well as at election commission offices in Songpa-gu, Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu. The searches were aimed at securing additional evidence to establish the full facts behind the ballot shortage, the task force said.

On Wednesday, the task force summoned the head of the Gwangjin-gu election commission secretariat, identified only by the surname A, as a suspect for questioning on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and dereliction of duty in connection with the ballot shortage. It was the first suspect interrogation since the task force launched 43 days earlier. A is said to have testified during questioning that the NEC had acted irresponsibly.

Since Monday, the task force has been executing search warrants at the NEC on consecutive days over allegations that former NEC Chairman Noh Tae-ak and commission staff went on overseas trips disguised as official business. The People Power Party had previously filed a complaint alleging that Noh and commission employees traveled abroad on what amounted to leisure trips last month, accusing them of embezzlement in the course of their duties.

Noh is suspected of having taken leisure trips abroad with his spouse while in office — to Australia and New Zealand in December 2022, to Germany and Estonia in November 2024, and to Denmark and Sweden in November 2025. He is reported to have returned about 47 million won ($31,900) in travel expenses after the controversy emerged.

During the searches, the task force found evidence that Noh departed for Denmark and other destinations last year earlier than the officially scheduled itinerary. His spouse, however, is said to have returned home midway through the trip for unrelated personal reasons.

The task force said Thursday it was summoning a former secretary identified only as B — believed to have been involved in planning the overseas trips Noh took with his spouse — for questioning as a witness.