People Power Party on Kim Se-hwan's Resignation: "No Scapegoating... No Jeong-hee Noh's Urgent Resignation"

"Even if the Secretary-General resigns, what will change?"
"Chairman Noh, at the top of all election commission tasks, must resign"

Kim Se-hwan, Secretary General of the National Election Commission, is announcing the commission's statement regarding the submission of the 21st National Assembly electoral district delimitation plan to the National Assembly on March 3, 2020, at the Gwanak Office of the National Election Commission. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jeong-wan] The People Power Party criticized on the 16th the resignation of Kim Se-hwan, Secretary General of the Central Election Commission, saying, "You cannot evade responsibility with a showy scapegoating."

Heo Eun-ah, senior spokesperson for the People Power Party, said in a statement that afternoon, "Chairperson Noh Jeong-hee of the Election Commission, who has consistently shown incompetence and bias, is still in office. What will change even if the Secretary General, who acts under the chairperson's orders, resigns?"

Spokesperson Heo added, "It is far from enough to make up for the incompetence and bias the Election Commission has shown so far, or to restore the public's trust in the Election Commission, which has already fallen to the bottom," and said, "The resignation of Chairperson Noh, who is at the top of all Election Commission operations, is urgent."

He continued, "The composition of the Election Commission members is already skewed, and public distrust toward the Election Commission, which has been preoccupied with watching the regime rather than managing elections, is uncontrollable," and pointed out, "The prosecution investigation is underway. Chairperson Noh should promptly announce her position and cooperate with the investigation."

Earlier, Secretary General Kim expressed his intention to resign in an email to staff, saying, "I deeply feel responsible and apologize as Secretary General regarding the poor management of early voting, including confirmed cases during this presidential election."

Secretary General Kim said, "Despite the difficult and challenging conditions due to the surge in COVID-19 cases, all staff devoted themselves to election management to the best of their ability, but this incident was caused entirely by my fault," and added, "I hope the local elections will be successfully managed and the institution will make a leap forward to regain the trust of the people."