Board of Audit and Inspection: "Election Commission Systematically Obstructed and Delayed Hiring Corruption Audit... Evidence Destruction"

Evidence Destruction by File Tampering and Document Shredding
Failure to Submit Personnel Data for Grade 3 and Above

As the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) revealed preferential hiring of children of current and former employees of the Central and eight regional election commissions, it was confirmed that the election commission effectively obstructed or delayed the audit in an organized manner.

According to the BAI on the 1st, during the audit of the hiring corruption, the election commission submitted copies of documents to the auditors with the personal information of the involved current and former employees blacked out. Since personal information is essential to uncover hiring corruption, the commission knowingly failed to cooperate with the audit.

Furthermore, when materials were requested, it was common for the commission to delay for over a week, citing the need for approval from higher-ups, and they even refused computer forensic investigations, causing the audit to be delayed by nearly three weeks until final agreement, the BAI reported.

In addition to hiring corruption, the BAI also confirmed and announced serious issues such as lax discipline in organizational and personnel matters, reckless personnel management aimed at increasing senior positions, manipulative organizational operations, and ineffective internal controls within the election commission. However, due to the commission’s non-cooperation, operational data related to senior officials at grade 3 or above were never submitted.

A BAI official said, "We ultimately received enough cooperation to avoid affecting the audit results," but added, "Selective submission and delays by the election commission caused significant time to be spent securing the materials."

Chairman No Tae-ak of the National Election Commission. [Photo by Yonhap News]

Initially, the Central Election Commission refused the audit, claiming that as a constitutional institution, it was not subject to personnel reduction audits, but changed its stance to allow only the preferential hiring allegations to be audited after facing public backlash.

As a result, the audit on the election commission, which began in July last year, took about nine months until the announcement.

The audit found that from senior officials to mid-level managers, it was common to request the hiring of their own children, and hiring officers employed various illegal and manipulative methods. Numerous cases of evidence destruction and concealment attempts by election commission employees were also confirmed.

According to the audit, corruption and violations were found in all 291 career hiring processes conducted by the election commission over the past 10 years since 2013. Employees’ children were hired through various preferential treatments and manipulations, and notably, the son of a former secretary-general who transferred from the county office to the election commission was even called the ‘Seja (Crown Prince)’ internally. The BAI referred 49 current and former election commission employees to the prosecution for investigation or as reference subjects.

The BAI added that during the audit last year, the election commission attempted to destroy evidence by altering files containing hiring corruption methods and shredding documents.

As critical public opinion against the election commission’s behavior intensified, political circles suggested converting all election commission chairpersons to full-time positions and excluding the Central Election Commission Chairperson from the 'Five Key Officials' protocol. Currently, the Five Key Officials include the Speaker of the National Assembly, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, President of the Constitutional Court, Prime Minister, and the Central Election Commission Chairperson.

The People Power Party criticized the audit results on the 1st through a spokesperson’s statement, saying, “Strong measures at the level of dismantling the election commission must be urgently implemented,” and added, “The organization itself has been thoroughly corrupted, which is why absurd incidents like ‘Sokuri voting’ and ‘ramen box voting’ occurred. The election commission, which operated in a closed manner, was already rotten to the core, and the election management system could not have been normal.”

They continued, “There is no reason for the election commission to exist if the public cannot trust it,” emphasizing, “External audits and prosecution investigations of the election commission are necessary.”