PPP filed complaint alleging embezzlement over overseas trips by election commission officials
By Choi Eui-jong, The Herald Business
The joint police-prosecution investigative team probing violations of citizens' voting rights during the June 3 local elections is set to question People Power Party complainants this week, it has been confirmed. The development signals that the investigation into allegations of junket overseas trips by National Election Commission officials is picking up pace.
The joint investigative team, headed by Kim Tae-hun, will question on Wednesday members of the PPP's Media Special Committee and Media Legal Team, who filed a complaint naming unidentified NEC civil servants and former NEC Chairman Noh Tae-ak on charges including embezzlement.
Earlier, on June 17, the PPP submitted the complaint to the joint team, alleging that some NEC officials had traveled abroad in September 2023 under the pretext of "observing the Maldives presidential election" and charged all expenses — including airfare, accommodation and meals — to the NEC's budget, without any verifiable operational necessity.
The PPP filed the embezzlement complaint in connection with four overseas trips totaling 86.8 million won: a Maldives trip (14.7 million won, about $9,510), a Bangkok and Kota Kinabalu trip (19.2 million won), a Florence and Venice trip (30 million won), and a Florence trip last year (22.9 million won). The party also filed an additional complaint over trips in which former Chairman Noh traveled with his spouse to Denmark and Sweden, and to Germany and Estonia.
Choi Ji-woo, head of the PPP's Media Legal Team, said the joint team's investigation remained confined to the ballot shortage incident despite a steady stream of allegations surrounding the NEC. "Public skepticism is growing over whether the joint team is conducting only a perfunctory investigation to shield the NEC and the administration," she said.
The joint team is also questioning seven people as witnesses Monday — one Songpa-gu election commission employee, identified only as A, and six local government civil servants who worked at polling stations. A is understood to be a staff member of the Songpa-gu election commission secretariat. Since its launch on June 9, the team has been calling in local government officials and election commission staff who worked at polling stations to reconstruct the sequence of events.
On June 24, the team executed search and seizure warrants against 12 people — three officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission and nine from the Songpa-gu Election Commission. The team said it carried out the warrants "to enable a thorough reconstruction of the circumstances surrounding the ballot shortage."
Once the team completes its analysis of seized materials and finishes reconstructing the ballot shortage situation, it is expected to move into full-scale suspect questioning of former Chairman Noh and former Chairman Oh, among others.
On June 23, the joint team received and began analyzing activity records and review materials from the fact-finding committee on the ballot shortage. The fact-finding committee recommended that the team investigate 12 individuals, including former Chairman Noh, standing commissioner Wi Cheol-hwan, former Secretary General Heo Cheol-hun, Deputy Secretary General Kang Dong-wan and former election policy director Yun Jae-su.
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