Citizens protesting the ballot shortage during the 9th nationwide local elections block the entrance to a vote-counting center at the Olympic Park handball arena in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on June 6, demanding a re-election. [Newsis]
Citizens protesting the ballot shortage during the 9th nationwide local elections block the entrance to a vote-counting center at the Olympic Park handball arena in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on June 6, demanding a re-election. [Newsis]

Police have launched a formal investigation into the ballot shortage that disrupted the June 3 local elections.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Wide-Area Crime Investigation Unit summoned a representative of a conservative civic group Monday morning for questioning. The group had filed a complaint against National Election Commission Chairman Noh Tae-ak and others on charges including dereliction of duty.

Kim Sun-hwan, secretary-general of the People's Livelihood Committee, spoke to reporters before entering the unit's office in Gangdong-gu, Seoul. "Chairman Noh's term was originally set to end in March this year," he said. "Saying it's over because he resigned is deceiving the public," Kim added.

Kim Sun-hwan, secretary-general of the People's Livelihood Committee, answers reporters' questions Monday as he enters the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Wide-Area Crime Investigation Unit in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, to be questioned as the complainant in a dereliction-of-duty case against election commission officials over the June 3 local election ballot shortage. [Yonhap]
Kim Sun-hwan, secretary-general of the People's Livelihood Committee, answers reporters' questions Monday as he enters the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Wide-Area Crime Investigation Unit in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, to be questioned as the complainant in a dereliction-of-duty case against election commission officials over the June 3 local election ballot shortage. [Yonhap]

Kim also urged a thorough investigation, arguing that the NEC had secured a budget to print ballots equivalent to 1.1 times the number of registered voters but prepared only about half that amount for the actual vote — conduct he said amounted to embezzlement.

Police said Monday's questioning marks the start of a broader inquiry into whether the NEC followed its own ballot distribution guidelines and how decisions were made at the time.

Polling station workers and other election officials involved in the incident are also expected to be called in for questioning soon as witnesses.

President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday ordered a thorough investigation into the matter, and a joint investigative task force involving both prosecutors and police is expected to be formed shortly.

Investigators from the Wide-Area Crime Investigation Unit currently handling the complaint are expected to be assigned to the joint task force.


husn7@heraldcorp.com