Jang Dong-hyeok, Representative of the People Power Party [Photo=Yonhap News]

People Power Party Representative Jang Dong-hyeok has strongly criticized the National Election Commission (NEC) for computer system manipulation, calling for an extension of the parliamentary investigation and the appointment of a special counsel.

On the 23rd, Representative Jang stated on his Facebook page, "The NEC's computer system manipulation has been exposed," adding, "According to what has been revealed by the joint investigation headquarters so far, they arbitrarily manipulated voter turnout by time slot."

Representative Jang further pointed out, "The NEC has consistently claimed that 'computer manipulation is impossible,' and they unleashed all sorts of attacks, labeling even the mere suggestion of poor management in the election statistics system as a 'conspiracy theory'." He noted, "The Democratic Party even tried to send people to prison for up to 10 years for such claims, but it turns out that even the most basic voter turnout data could be manipulated so easily through the computer system."

He criticized the situation severely, stating, "If we cannot even trust the voter turnout, how are we supposed to trust any other figures? Can they still demand that the public blindly accept election results under these circumstances?" He called it "a very grave incident that undermines the credibility of elections from the ground up."

Emphasizing the necessity of extending the parliamentary investigation and introducing a special counsel to resolve these suspicions, Representative Jang argued, "We must extend the current parliamentary investigation period to examine the entire aspect of computer manipulation from scratch," adding, "The investigation must be entrusted to a 'People's Special Counsel' that can be trusted, rather than a 'political special counsel' of the Democratic Party's style."

He further added, "We must investigate the entire election statistics system, including the NEC servers, and review all statistical records from past elections," asserting, "Without doing so, there is no way to resolve this major national suspicion."

Finally, Representative Jang warned, "The foundation of democracy is elections, and the foundation of elections is fair voting and counting," adding, "South Korea's democracy is in danger of collapsing. If the Democratic Party tries to stall with a 'bed special counsel,' they will never be able to get up from that bed again."