The National Assembly's special committee investigating the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections has summoned 97 witnesses — including all sitting National Election Commission members — along with officials from the Ministry of Interior and Safety and police, for its first hearing, set for July 14.
The committee voted Tuesday, during an on-site inspection at the NEC headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, to require 97 witnesses and 15 reference persons to appear at the first hearing. Those called include nine current and former NEC commissioners, among them acting NEC Chairman Wi Cheol-hwan and former Chairman Noh Tae-ak.
Also on the witness list are Park Chan-jin, former NEC secretary-general, and Song Bong-seop, former deputy secretary-general, both implicated in a nepotistic hiring scandal in 2023.
Four NEC standing commissioners at the time of the 2022 local elections — Kim Pil-gon, Kim Chang-bo, Lee Seung-taek and Jeong Eun-suk — were also summoned in connection with a vote-counting error in Seoul's Guro-gu. The panel additionally named two Ministry of Interior and Safety election officials and one Ministry of National Defense official linked to a double-voting incident involving absentee military ballots.
Korean National Police Agency acting Commissioner Yoo Jae-seong and officers present at the scene were subpoenaed over clashes with protesters during the removal of ballot boxes from the handball arena at Olympic Park in Jamsil. Joint police-prosecution investigation chief Kim Tae-hun and officials from companies that had signed private contracts with the NEC were also included.
Meanwhile, the People Power Party called for Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung and Defense Minister Ahn Kyu-baek to be added to the witness list, but the ruling party objected, and the matter was referred to negotiations between floor leaders of both sides.
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