The Election Commission excludes 10 employees, children of high-ranking officials, from duties over 'hiring favoritism' allegations

The National Election Commission announced on the 5th that it has taken measures to exclude from duty 10 employees who were given preferential hiring as children of high-ranking officials.

On the afternoon of the same day, the National Election Commission stated through a notice, "The employees who are children were not included among the disciplinary subjects by the Board of Audit and Inspection, and there is no legal basis for disciplinary action, so disciplinary action cannot be taken." However, it added, "Allowing these employees to continue working does not meet the public's expectations, so as a practical measure, these employees have been excluded from their duties." These employees are scheduled to be excluded from duty starting from the 6th.

Yonhap News

The National Election Commission also plans to proceed with disciplinary requests against employees who handled their duties improperly. The Board of Audit and Inspection requested disciplinary action against 17 election commission employees involved in the hiring corruption and issued warnings to 10 others. In addition, the National Election Commission independently requested disciplinary action from the disciplinary committee for one employee confirmed to have hiring issues.

Earlier, in May 2023, the National Election Commission underwent an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection following the emergence of a hiring corruption scandal involving children of high-ranking officials such as former Secretary-General Park Chan-jin and former Deputy Secretary Song Bong-seop. The audit revealed that personnel officers at the commission accepted various illegal and irregular requests to pass the applicants related to the petitioners' families.