Acting NEC Chair Wi Cheol-hwan: “The Commission Is Facing Its Most Serious Ordeal Since Its Founding” ... Apologizes for Ballot-Paper Shortage [2026 Parliamentary Audit]

[Financial News] Acting NEC Chair Wi Cheol-hwan apologized on the 7th for the ballot-paper shortage during the previous local elections and for shortcomings in election management, saying, “The NEC is going through the most serious ordeal since its founding.” The NEC said it would draw up reform measures, including organizational restructuring, improvements to voting and vote-counting procedures, and amendments to laws governing political relations.
In his opening remarks at the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee’s parliamentary audit that day, Acting Chair Wi said, “I feel a deep sense of responsibility for undermining trust in election management through the shortage of ballot papers and inadequate handling of our duties.” He added, “I once again bow my head and offer my deepest apologies for causing great disappointment and concern among the public and the National Assembly over the various problems that arose during the administration of the nationwide local elections.” He continued, “I am also well aware that the crisis we face now is the result of long-standing practices and complacent attitudes that have built up over time.” On the situation within the NEC, he said, “Amid criticism from both inside and outside the organization, tension and fatigue have accumulated across the organization, and employees’ morale and pride have also been greatly dampened.”
Acting Chair Wi said, “We are exploring comprehensive reform measures in three areas: organizational restructuring, improvements to voting and vote-counting procedures, and amendments to laws governing political relations.” He added, “We will broadly take in critical opinions and carefully examine the soundness of the reform measures.”
Under the convention of respecting the independence of the NEC, Acting Chair Wi was not called as a regular witness and left after delivering his opening remarks. However, after Joo Ho-young of the People Power Party pointed to past cases of standing committee members attending parliamentary audits, the committee decided that it would determine whether Wi should attend a future comprehensive audit.
The recount issue at the Olympic Park counting station was also raised at the parliamentary audit that day. Asked by Yoon Geon-young, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, whether he felt responsible for the delay in the recount, Acting NEC Secretary-General Kang Dong-wan replied, “Yes,” adding, “I will work with the special counsel to ensure the verification is completed as quickly as possible.”
Explaining why the NEC had not first asked the special counsel to conduct a recount, he said, “The special counsel requested that the ballot papers stored at the Handball Stadium be preserved at the site.”
Criticism was also directed at the budget allocation for a special encouragement allowance for next year’s parliamentary by-election in Gangneung. In response to a question from Park Ju-min, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, Acting Secretary-General Kang said, “The staff member failed to check during the budget preparation process,” adding, “We will not spend it.” He continued, “We failed to check when the government’s budget proposal was finalized at the end of May. I find that embarrassing.” Park said, “When you blame the staff, that’s why we can’t trust the NEC.” The special encouragement allowance is a budget item intended to encourage NEC officials at grade 5 or below, among others, who carry out election-related duties.

[email protected] Lee Bo-mi Reporter