NEC Denies Allegations of Chinese Interference
"Non-citizens Cannot Be Appointed as Election or Vote Counting Officials"
NEC: "Election Fraud Conspiracy Theories Fuel Division and Conflict Among Citizens"
The National Election Commission (NEC) has denied allegations that Chinese nationals interfered in domestic elections, stating that there has never been a case of appointing foreigners as election officials.
According to materials disclosed on the 22nd by Yoon Geon-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, the NEC responded in a 'fact inquiry reply' related to election management affairs submitted to the Constitutional Court, stating, "Article 146-2, Paragraph 2 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that election officials and early voting officials must be appointed from among public officials belonging to the state or local governments or faculty and staff of schools at all levels."
Although current law does not list foreign nationals as disqualified from serving as election and vote counting officials, the NEC stated that it appoints only nationals. The NEC explained, "To prevent unnecessary misunderstandings, on November 30, 2023, we revised the Public Official Election Procedure Manual to prohibit appointing persons who are not 'citizens of the Republic of Korea' as election and vote counting officials."
Regarding allegations that the Eunpyeong District NEC appointed six Chinese nationals as vote counting officials during the 2020 general election, the NEC clarified, "The Eunpyeong District NEC appointed 62 out of a total of 542 vote counting officials as volunteer firefighters, and the six individuals suspected to be Chinese nationals were all volunteer firefighters. Their nationalities were five Korean nationals and one Chinese national with permanent residency in Korea."
In its reply submitted to the Constitutional Court, the NEC stated, "We cannot help but feel devastated and sorrowful over the baseless election fraud conspiracy theory that caused armed martial law troops to enter and occupy the NEC’s Gwacheon office, Gwanak office, and Suwon Election Training Center."
It added, "The election fraud conspiracy theory not only undermines the credibility of the election system, which is the foundation of democracy, but also spreads distorted information related to elections widely and rapidly among the public, fostering discord and conflict among citizens over the election results."
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