National Policy Planning Committee Urges NEC to Prevent Recurrence of Poor Election Management and Respond Firmly to Election Fraud Conspiracy Theories

Political and Administrative Subcommittee Holds Meeting
at Government Gwacheon Complex

The National Policy Planning Committee announced on July 16 that it visited the Central Election Commission (NEC) on July 15, urging measures to prevent a recurrence of poor election management and to respond firmly to conspiracy theories about election fraud.

Government Gwacheon Government Complex Central Election Commission. Asia Economy DB

The committee explained that, considering the NEC is an independent constitutional body, the Political and Administrative Subcommittee directly visited the NEC at the Government Gwacheon Complex. The meeting lasted about 90 minutes from 4:30 p.m., during which they discussed current issues.

According to the committee, during the meeting, members of the Political and Administrative Subcommittee raised concerns about poor election management at an early voting station in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, during the last presidential election, and asked about follow-up measures to prevent a recurrence.

In response, Kim Yongbin, Secretary General of the NEC, promised that the election management manual had been revised and that thorough pre-training related to this would ensure that similar incidents would not occur in the future.

Regarding the introduction of overseas absentee voting, which is also one of President Lee Jaemyung's campaign pledges, Secretary General Kim stated that a cautious approach is required, citing the need for strict management of voting and counting, the necessity to prevent proxy voting controversies, and differences in the reliability of postal systems in various countries as reasons.

The committee members emphasized that elections are "the flower of democracy" and stressed the need for the Central Election Commission to work with local education offices to implement democracy education for students, such as through mock elections, and to secure the necessary budget for this purpose.

They also called on the NEC to respond firmly to claims of election fraud by some far-right groups. In particular, they agreed that reckless and irresponsible actions, such as those that interfered with the last presidential election, should be subject to strong punishment, even through separate legislative measures if necessary.

Secretary General Kim requested the committee’s cooperation regarding the need to increase personnel.

Lee Haesik, Chair of the Political and Administrative Subcommittee, stated, "Although there were some shortcomings in election management during the last presidential election, I am grateful that, overall, voting and counting were managed neutrally and fairly without any major incidents. I ask that you continue to strive for even more advanced election management in the future."