President Lee sparks controversy while marking his ballot; ruling party calls it a "happening," opposition says it should be invalidated

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[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung took his ballot out of the booth and asked an official from the National Election Commission (NEC) about it while voting at an early voting station on the 29th. The People Power Party said the incident amounted to grounds for impeachment and threatened legal action.
President Lee cast his early vote that day at the Samcheong-dong Community Service Center polling station in Jongno District, Seoul. After briefly entering the booth, he came back out and showed his ballot to an NEC official, asking, "Is it okay if only half of the circle mark is stamped?" After being told there was no problem, he returned to the booth and completed voting.
The People Power Party argued that the ballot should be invalidated, citing Article 167 of the Public Official Election Act, which prohibits showing a ballot to another person and requires it to be voided if disclosed. Floor leader Song Eon-seok wrote on social networking service (SNS), "We will immediately review legal action. I strongly urge the NEC to launch a fact-finding investigation at once."
Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk also cited a report on SNS that Kyuyoun Lee, senior presidential secretary for public relations and communication at Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House), had asked the Blue House press corps to refrain from reporting on the matter. He said, "The Blue House has effectively confessed to Lee Jae Myung's illegal election conduct, and if Lee Jae Myung ordered Kyuyoun Lee to suppress coverage, that would be grounds for impeachment." He added, "The day of judgment for Lee Jae Myung is not far off."
The People Power Party Special Committee on Press Freedom also criticized what it called reporting restrictions aimed at the controversy over President Lee's early vote. At a news conference, the committee said, "The problematic scene of him asking a question while holding his ballot was excluded from the published video and photos, and even the remark in the shared Blue House press corps material that an election worker should not show the ballot was removed." It added, "If this was selectively edited to downplay and conceal the president's alleged election law violation, it is clear media control by power and a deception of the public."
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) dismissed the criticism as a baseless claim. Secretary-General Cho Seung-rae said at a National Assembly press briefing that it was "an attempt to force a controversy out of a simple happening during the voting process."
uknow@fnnews.com Kim Yun-ho Reporter