People Power Party Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik. [Photo = Yonhap News] 

A few days ago, Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik justified the agreement with the Democratic Party, claiming that the "no special counsel recommendation without opposition party consent" provision was a key achievement of the negotiation. However, this is nothing more than sophistry, masquerading the public's demand for an "opposition-led special counsel" as mere "opposition consent."

And today, the situation has completely changed.

The joint investigation team of the prosecution and police conducted a search and seizure, having uncovered circumstances suggesting that the National Election Commission (NEC) not only suffered from simple mismanagement but also arbitrarily manipulated and covered up voter turnout statistics. The warrant specifically included charges of forging public electronic records and obstruction of official duties by deceit.

This elevates the issue beyond the shortage of ballot papers, raising suspicions of grave crimes regarding the election IT system itself. Today, Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik, cognizant of this situation, officially proposed an extension of the parliamentary investigation period to the Democratic Party, but this alone is insufficient.

The suspicions of IT manipulation revealed today demonstrate that the existing special counsel agreement no longer reflects the reality of the situation.

Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik must fully expand the scope of the special counsel's investigation to align with these newly uncovered criminal allegations and renegotiate for an opposition-led special counsel.

The suspicions brought to light by today's search and seizure go far beyond the ballot shortage issue. There must be a thorough investigation without sanctuary into the IT manipulation, statistical fabrication, organized cover-up, the involvement of higher-ups, and even past elections.

In particular, the core of this case is the election IT system. Therefore, a compulsory investigation and digital forensics of the National Election Commission’s servers must be included as part of the special counsel's investigation.

A special counsel that excludes the National Election Commission’s servers is nothing more than a half-baked investigation that ignores the primary evidence. Only through a thorough forensic analysis of the servers can we clearly reveal to the public whether the same methods of IT manipulation or organized cover-ups were employed not only in this case but in past elections as well.

Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik should not stop at calling for an extension of the parliamentary investigation but must immediately renegotiate the existing special counsel agreement.

If we maintain a special counsel that is dragged along by the Democratic Party and Lee Jae-myung, we cannot rule out the possibility that they will have a decisive influence on the future expansion of the investigation scope as well as the overall operation of the special counsel.

Ultimately, it will be difficult to avoid the public concern that this will end as a "tail-cutting special counsel," protecting those at the top while only punishing low-level staff.

Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik must immediately scrap the existing special counsel agreement with the Democratic Party. He must renegotiate for a special counsel that is led by the opposition, capable of investigating the entire election IT system—including the National Election Commission's servers—and all election-related suspicions without sanctuary.

What the people want is not an agreement with the Democratic Party. What the people want is an opposition-led special counsel that can uncover the truth about the election once and for all.

July 23, 2026

Oh Sang-jong, Free Republic of Korea Defense League