Board of Audit and Inspection Requests Investigation of 27 Current and Former Officials for Mass Preferential Treatment in Regional Election Commission Career Competitive Recruitment

Over 800 Violations Since 2013
"Hiring and Personnel Regulations Ignored and Tolerated as Common Practice"

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The Board of Audit and Inspection confirmed that preferential hiring frequently occurred in the regional election commissions' career competitive recruitment process. A full investigation conducted since 2013 revealed violations of regulations in every round, with the number of violations reaching approximately 800 cases.

In particular, cases were uncovered where election commission employees contacted hiring officers to request the hiring of their children, and election officials pressured elected local government heads?who are subject to supervision under election laws?to approve the transfer of employees' children.

On the 30th, the Board of Audit and Inspection confirmed the frequent occurrence of fraudulent hiring within the election commissions and requested an investigation by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office into 27 current and former election commission employees, including former secretaries-general and other high-ranking officials who improperly influenced the hiring of their relatives or employees' relatives, as well as those involved in manipulating interview scores and other fraudulent hiring practices at various regional election commissions.

They face charges including abuse of authority under the Criminal Act, obstruction of official duties by deception, forgery and use of false official documents, evidence destruction, and violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and the State Public Officials Act.

Since allegations of preferential hiring for children of high-ranking election commission officials surfaced in May last year, the Board of Audit and Inspection has examined the overall organization and personnel management, including the hiring of relatives within the election commissions, which had been outside external oversight and control.

The audit revealed that throughout the election commission organization, ignoring or tolerating relevant laws regarding recruitment, personnel, and service had become customary.

From high-ranking officials to mid-level managers, requests for hiring their own children were frequent, and hiring officers used various illegal and illicit methods to make the career competitive recruitment during election seasons an easy pathway for employees' children to enter national public service. Illegal and illicit practices included non-public hiring exclusively for employees' children, forming exam committees solely with internal members who had personal connections, manipulating and altering interview scores, and deliberately ignoring or applying the legally required consent of local government heads for transfers in a discriminatory manner.

Additionally, there were cases where false responses and submissions of materials were made to the National Assembly and others, or where internal inspections were used as opportunities to destroy evidence.

Furthermore, the Board of Audit and Inspection identified serious issues in organizational and personnel management beyond recruitment, including lax discipline, excessive personnel expansion for high-ranking positions, illicit organizational operations, and ineffective internal controls. They have begun internal reviews and plan to promptly finalize and take action on the audit results after deliberation and resolution by the audit committee.

According to the Board of Audit and Inspection, the election commissions had a culture where a senior official took extended unauthorized absences for overseas travel, and employees attended law school during working hours, with the attitude that "attendance management is not strictly enforced at the election commission." It was also uncovered that the city election commission secretary-general repeatedly used the same medical certificate through self-approval and approved false sick leaves, resulting in about 100 days of unauthorized absences and approximately 80 days of false sick leave over eight years, including about 70 instances of overseas travel without authorization totaling more than 170 days.

The Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out, "Hiring officers who received requests used various illegal and illicit methods to ensure the acceptance of employees' children," adding, "This undermined the fairness of public service recruitment and caused harm to innocent applicants who did not receive hiring opportunities."

In response, the Central Election Commission stated in a press release on the same day, "Following a special internal audit last May, four individuals including the former secretary-general and deputy secretary-general were referred to the prosecution, and in September, a prosecution investigation is underway following a complaint by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. We will take strict measures as necessary based on the investigation results."