Ministry of the Interior and Safety: Suspicious Illegal Camera Devices Found at 26 Early Voting Stations Nationwide (Comprehensive)

As of 6 PM on the 29th... Confirmed in 7 Cities and Provinces

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that, as of 6 p.m. on the 29th, suspicious illegal camera devices were found at a total of 26 locations across 7 cities and provinces during a nationwide inspection of early voting stations installed in facilities under local governments.

The locations where suspicious illegal camera devices were found include 2 places in Seoul: Hwagok 8-dong in Gangseo-gu and Nokbeon-dong in Eunpyeong-gu; 1 place in Buk-gu, Busan; 9 places in Incheon: 3 in Yeonsu-gu, 2 in Namdong-gu, 3 in Gyeyang-gu, and 1 in Bupyeong-gu; 1 place in Buk-gu, Ulsan Metropolitan City; 6 places in Yangsan-si, Gyeongnam; 3 places in Nam-gu, Daegu Metropolitan City; and 4 places in Gyeonggi-do: 1 each in Gimpo and Seongnam, and 2 in Goyang, totaling 26 locations.

On the 29th, an election official in charge of election duties at the Dalseo-gu Office is inspecting illegal cameras by referring to photos of illegal cameras that were actually installed at the early voting site at the Yucheon-dong Administrative Welfare Center in Dalseo-gu, Daegu. [Image source=Yonhap News]

All of these are facilities under the jurisdiction of local governments, such as community service centers or administrative welfare centers. Among these facilities, some are places to be used as counting stations for the upcoming April 10 general election, and some have been used as early voting stations in the past.

After suspicious illegal camera devices were found at early voting stations in Incheon and Yangsan the previous day, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety ordered a nationwide inspection of early voting stations under local governments. The targets of the inspection are 1,966 community service centers and administrative welfare centers under local governments where early voting stations are installed. The remaining 1,599 early voting stations are reported to have been inspected by the National Election Commission.

An official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety explained, "We plan to notify the National Election Commission of the results of this emergency inspection, and we understand that the Commission will conduct additional inspections if necessary by the 4th of next month when the installation of early voting stations is completed. Regarding the reason for installing illegal cameras, the police are currently investigating suspects, so we will have to wait for the investigation results to know more."