People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye [Yonhap]
People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye [Yonhap]

Wi Cheol-hwan, the acting chairman of the National Election Commission, received advance briefings on both the investigation plan and findings of a fact-finding panel that was supposed to operate as an independent body, a lawmaker alleged Tuesday.

People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye, a member of the National Assembly's special committee on the parliamentary investigation into the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections, said a comprehensive review of the NEC's internal network document print logs showed that a secretary in Wi's office printed a file titled "[Briefing] Ballot Shortage Fact-Finding Committee Operation Plan" on June 8 — two days before the panel was launched.

The review also found that on the morning of June 19, before the panel publicly released its final findings, Wi's office printed files named "Fact-Finding Committee Result Report (v6)" and another document referencing the panel's chair.

Kim said the panel operated from June 10 to June 19 under a mandate to determine the causes and responsibilities of the ballot shortage objectively and independently. Wi himself testified at the first parliamentary investigation briefing on June 23 that he had not interfered with the panel. She said the print records directly contradict that testimony.

Kim also said Wi appeared to have received assistance from his secretarial staff on multiple occasions when drafting responses to the fact-finding panel.

According to Kim's analysis, on June 16 — the day Wi submitted his first written response to the panel — a secretary in his office revised and printed a file named "Written Questionnaire (Standing Commissioner)_Final" multiple times. Wi submitted only the last printed version.

Kim said this contradicts Wi's statement at the parliamentary investigation special committee on June 23 that he had not received help from staff, and claimed Wi had committed perjury.

Kim further criticized Wi for printing and reviewing, item by item, the list of NEC documents requested by the National Assembly along with the corresponding responses. She said the NEC had even drafted anticipated parliamentary investigation questions and passed them to Wi.

Kim also said Wi told the committee that NEC commissioners held a meeting among themselves on the evening of June 22 — the day before the parliamentary investigation — and that his secretarial office printed a draft attendance plan for the investigation that same evening. She said that if the decision on whether to attend the parliamentary investigation was made at that meeting, it would constitute a clear violation of current law.

"Wi not only committed serious perjury from the very first agency briefing of the parliamentary investigation, but evidence of abuse of authority has also emerged across the entire fact-finding process," Kim said. "If he does not resign voluntarily, we will swiftly pursue impeachment."


husn7@heraldcorp.com