![Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Ju-hee speaks at a forum on strengthening youth voting rights held at the National Assembly building in Yeouido on Friday. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/06/20/news-p.v1.20260620.3f4b0e64714743768ff8fb1de042a0cb_P1.jpg)
The Democratic Party of Korea has pushed back against allegations raised by the People Power Party that the National Election Commission and the Democratic Party colluded on overseas junkets, dismissing the claims as an "irresponsible conspiracy theory."
Democratic Party floor spokesperson Lee Ju-hee said in a written briefing Friday that the People Power Party was "distorting a 2023 overseas security inspection trip for the election commission's overseas voting system into a 'joyride junket colluding with the Democratic Party,' mounting a malicious political offensive."
Lee said the security inspection was "a four-party joint review demanded by the People Power Party itself and led by the National Intelligence Service under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration," adding that it was "an official government business trip in which government agencies and specialized public institutions participated, with the NIS drawing up the itinerary."
She then said it was the People Power Party that "voluntarily abandoned its own chance to verify the system." She noted that the election commission had sent official correspondence to all negotiating blocs in the National Assembly inviting them to observe. "The People Power Party, which had been loudly insisting there were problems with the system, actually refused on its own to observe the overseas inspection," she said.
Lee urged the party to "join the parliamentary investigation and discussions on election commission reform in a responsible manner befitting a legitimate political party," saying the "essence of the People Power Party's offensive is a shallow political scheme to drag the Democratic Party into a tired rigged-election narrative by any means necessary."
123@heraldcorp.com
