Acting Chairman of the National Election Commission, Wi Cheol-hwan, is giving a business report at a plenary session of the National Assembly's Special Committee for a State Audit on the ballot shortage and infringement of citizens' right to participate in politics, and electoral management reform, held on the 23rd. [Photo = Yonhap News]

Acting Chairman of the National Election Commission, Wi Cheol-hwan, criticized the demand for a by-election by some within the political circles surrounding the June 3rd local elections as a "truly irresponsible claim" on the 23rd, but later retracted his statement and apologized.

Wi, the acting chairman, attended a plenary session of the National Assembly's 'Special Committee for a State Audit on the June 3rd Local Election Ballot Shortage' on this day and stated in response to a question from Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok about the possibility of a by-election, "Currently, the political circles should not be advocating for a by-election."

He emphasized, "While ordinary civic groups or the public can make such claims in the streets or public squares," he added, "when the vote count is complete and the winners have been announced, simply calling for a by-election is a truly irresponsible claim."

He further drew a line, stating, "Holding a by-election without a court ruling is currently impossible except in the event of a great revolution where the will of the people demolishes all existing procedures and starts anew."

He also added, "There is no basis for holding a by-election without legal procedures. I understand that Berlin (Germany) also held a by-election after two years of litigation."

However, in his subsequent remarks, Wi, the acting chairman, said, "I have made remarks that could cause misunderstanding regarding the by-election. I apologize for the excessive expression as I was discussing legal procedures and other matters," and requested the deletion of the verbatim record of the statement.

In response, the committee chairman, People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun, stated, "We will consider the statement as having been withdrawn," to which Wi, the acting chairman, replied, "Yes."

In addition, Wi, the acting chairman, also expressed his intention to consider 'public recounts' as one of the measures to resolve the distrust in the National Election Commission.

In response to a proposal by Rep. Yoon to conduct a public recount of the ballots inside the Olympic Park Handball Gymnasium, where 'polling station blockade protests' are ongoing, he said, "We will discuss it in depth at the plenary session and review it."