Central Election Commission [Yonhap News Photo]

It has been revealed that the National Election Commission has failed to collect 23.6 billion won in election expenses that should have been recovered from candidates who violated election laws, leaving the funds uncollected.

Of this amount, 3.5 billion won has effectively become irrecoverable due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

◇ 23.6 Billion Won Uncollected Out of 27.3 Billion Won in Return Orders... 23 Cases of Arrears Over 10 Years Old

According to data submitted by the office of Rep. Chae Hyun-il of the Democratic Party of Korea to the National Election Commission, as of January 31 of this year, 86 individuals had outstanding election expense reimbursements and deposit returns, totaling 23.66115 billion won.

The total amount ordered for return from these individuals was 27.35421 billion won, meaning 86.5% of the funds to be recovered have yet to be collected.

Election expense reimbursement is a system where the state reimburses part or all of a candidate's election campaign costs if they secure a certain percentage of votes.

Candidates who receive over 10% of the vote are reimbursed half of their election expenses, and those who receive over 15% are reimbursed the full amount.

Furthermore, if a candidate is convicted of an election offense, such as violating the Public Official Election Act, and the ruling that invalidates their election is finalized, they must return all deposits and reimbursed expenses within 30 days.

However, in reality, there were a significant number of long-term arrears cases, with return orders issued over 10 years ago still outstanding.

As of 2015, there were 23 cases with outstanding return amounts despite return orders being issued, totaling 11.29081 billion won. This accounts for 47.7% of the total uncollected amount.

For instance, former Seoul Superintendent of Education Kwak No-hyun received a return order for election expenses in October 2012 following a ruling that invalidated his election. However, 3.14301 billion won out of the ordered 3.53749 billion won remains unreturned.

Due to these long-term arrears, the discussion around the so-called "Kwak No-hyun Prevention Act," which would restrict re-nomination for candidates with unreturned election expenses, emerged when he ran again in the 2024 superintendent by-election.

In a phone call with Yonhap News, former Superintendent Kwak stated, "I have repaid about 400 million won so far through monthly pension garnishments," adding, "I am continuing to make repayments."

Voters casting ballots [Yonhap News Photo]

◇ Challenges in Recovery Due to Distributed Responsibility... Legislative Improvements Stalled

The problem lies in the repeated cases where recovery is not made for extended periods even after return orders are issued.

While tax authorities are responsible for collecting returned election expenses according to procedures, the National Election Commission also has an obligation to manage its receivables, including filing lawsuits to prevent the statute of limitations from expiring.

However, the unreturned funds for which the statute of limitations has already expired due to the absence of such measures amount to 3.574 billion won. A five-year statute of limitations applies to election expense return claims under the National Finance Act.

The National Election Commission explained that it has been filing lawsuits to extend the statute of limitations since 2019, and since then, there have been 3 cases with expired statutes of limitations, amounting to 198 million won.

This implies that most cases occurred before 2019. There is currently one ongoing lawsuit to extend the statute of limitations.

The National Election Commission added, "After issuing return orders, we delegate the collection to the tax office, but unreturned funds arise when there are no assets to seize," and "With new candidates becoming subject to return each election, unreturned funds are accumulating."

In fact, the National Election Commission has proposed to the National Assembly systems such as deferring election expense reimbursement for candidates indicted or charged with election offenses. Amendments to the Public Official Election Act, including extending the statute of limitations for return claims, have also been proposed but have never passed.

Jang Young-soo, an emeritus professor at Korea University School of Law, stated, "Currently, the recovery tasks are dispersed among various institutions such as the National Election Commission and the National Tax Service, making it unclear who is actually responsible." He added, "The authority responsible for recovery and the processing deadline should be clearly defined by law, and practical sanctions, such as restricting the right to be elected for those who do not return election expenses, should be considered."