Acting Chairperson Wi Chul-hwan of the National Election Commission (NEC) presents a report during the plenary session of the special parliamentary committee for the truth-finding of the infringement of the right to vote—such as the ballot shortage crisis—and for reform of election management, held at the National Assembly on the 23rd. [Photo = Yonhap News]On the 30th, Representative Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party alleged that Wi Chul-hwan, Acting Chairperson of the National Election Commission (NEC), had received prior reports on the investigation plans and results of the "Truth-Finding Committee on the June 3 Local Election Ballot Shortage," which was supposed to operate as an independent body, through internal NEC contacts.

The NEC countered that the materials were not reported in advance but were only provided to the acting chairperson shortly before their public release.

Cho Hyun-wook, head of the Truth-Finding Committee, emphasized that he had never submitted the activity report to the acting chairperson beforehand and that anyone who leaked the contents in advance should be held accountable.

According to a full analysis of the print logs from the NEC's internal network by Rep. Kim Eun-hye, a member of the National Assembly's special investigation committee on the June 3 local election ballot shortage, a member of the acting chairperson's secretariat printed a file titled "[Report Item] Operation Plan for the Truth-Finding Committee on the Ballot Shortage Crisis" on the 8th, two days before the committee was launched.

It was also confirmed that on the morning of the 19th, around 9:00 AM—before the Truth-Finding Committee announced its final results—files titled "Truth-Finding Committee Results Report (v6)" and "With the Chairperson of the Truth-Finding Committee" were printed.

Rep. Kim pointed out that this contradicts the committee's stated mission of ensuring objectivity and independence to fairly identify causes and responsibilities from the 10th to the 19th, as well as Acting Chairperson Wi's own testimony during the first institutional report on the 23rd, where he stated he had not intervened in the Truth-Finding Committee.

In response, the NEC issued an explanatory statement, clarifying: "The Truth-Finding Committee operation plan was a simple schedule of operations, and the document was also reported to all committee members during the meeting on the day it was printed."

Regarding the results report, the NEC stated, "(The acting chairperson) was notified just before the final investigation results were announced; he did not request it in advance, nor did he ask for any post-facto revisions. Acting Chairperson Wi did not intervene in the investigation process or the announcement of the results at all."

As for the file titled "With the Chairperson of the Truth-Finding Committee," the NEC explained, "It was a case where the first paragraph of the document was automatically extracted as the file title while a secretary was urgently typing up a second supplementary response written by the acting chairperson himself."

Truth-Finding Committee Chairperson Cho Hyun-wook told Yonhap News, "I have never reported the activity report to Acting Chairperson Wi, and I only learned that a draft of the report had been leaked before the announcement after seeing it in the news."

He further criticized the act, saying, "Whoever leaked the draft of the activity report without discussing it with or reporting it to the committee chairperson must be held accountable. This has severely damaged the reputation of the members who worked strictly and impartially in an independent and neutral capacity to uncover the truth."

Meanwhile, Rep. Kim stated that it was discovered that Acting Chairperson Wi received assistance from secretariat staff multiple times while drafting responses for the Truth-Finding Committee.

According to Rep. Kim's analysis, on the 16th, when the acting chairperson submitted his first response to the Truth-Finding Committee, a secretariat staff member modified and printed a document named "Written Inquiry (Standing Commissioner)_Final" several times. The acting chairperson submitted only the finally printed version of the response.

Rep. Kim claimed this contradicts the acting chairperson's statement on the 23rd before the special parliamentary committee that he did not receive help from staff, and therefore, "the acting chairperson committed perjury."

Rep. Kim further criticized that the acting chairperson reviewed the list of documents requested by the National Assembly and the responses one by one after they were printed, and that the NEC even prepared anticipated questions for the special investigation and delivered them to him.

Additionally, Rep. Kim noted that while the acting chairperson claimed on the 22nd—the evening before the special investigation—that the NEC commissioners had gathered for a meeting, a draft of the plan for attending the special investigation was printed by his secretariat that same evening. She emphasized that if the decision to attend the special investigation was made during that meeting, it constitutes a clear violation of current law.

Rep. Kim stated, "Acting Chairperson Wi not only committed serious perjury from his first institutional report to the special investigation committee but also revealed signs of abuse of power throughout the operation of the Truth-Finding Committee. If he does not resign voluntarily, we will swiftly push for his impeachment."

The NEC countered these claims by saying, "The response was written by Acting Chairperson Wi himself, and the secretary simply typed it up; this is not perjury," and regarding the printing of the attendance plan draft, they clarified, "It was not the entire document, but rather the secretary printing the attached 'List of Members of the Special Investigation Committee' to verify it."