The Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on June 24, when the joint police-prosecution investigation unit launched forced searches against officials from the Seoul Metropolitan and Songpa-gu election commissions as part of its probe into the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections. [Yonhap]
The Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on June 24, when the joint police-prosecution investigation unit launched forced searches against officials from the Seoul Metropolitan and Songpa-gu election commissions as part of its probe into the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections. [Yonhap]

The joint police-prosecution investigation unit probing the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections has formed a dedicated team for personnel and budget matters and will examine the overall operations of the National Election Commission.

The unit has taken over from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office two additional cases — one involving hiring fraud at the election commission and another in which a commission employee allegedly submitted a falsified budget request — and has begun investigating both, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The Gyeonggi Province Southern Police Agency had earlier referred to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office a case in which the head of general affairs and the head of personnel at the Gyeonggi Province Election Commission allegedly manipulated interview scores for some applicants during a mid-career hiring process in 2021.

The unit will also investigate a case in which National Election Commission employees submitted a budget request to the Ministry of Economy and Finance that omitted items flagged by the Board of Audit and Inspection, then received the funds.

To support the expanded probe, the unit brought in Im Hong-seok, a senior prosecutor from the Tongyeong Branch of the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office, on July 1, and will receive two additional prosecutors starting Monday. Procedures are also underway to bring in additional police personnel to bolster investigative capacity.


newday@heraldcorp.com