Heo Cheol-hoon, Secretary-General of the National Election Commission, apologizes to the public regarding the ballot shortage at the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on the day of the June 3rd local elections. [Yonhap News]

Heo Cheol-hoon, Secretary-General of the National Election Commission, bowed his head and stated, "We have caused great confusion and concern to the public" regarding the ballot shortage at some polling stations on the main voting day of the June 3rd local elections.

Secretary-General Heo made this statement while announcing a "Public Apology" at the Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on the evening of the same day.

He said, "We deeply apologize and feel responsible for causing inconvenience to the citizens who visited polling stations to exercise their precious sovereignty, and for undermining public trust in fair election management."

He added, "As soon as the Election Commission became aware of the situation, we transported ballots to the polling stations that were experiencing shortages. We also took measures and provided guidance to ensure that voters waiting at those polling stations could vote normally, even if it was after the closing time."

He continued, "The National Election Commission is gravely recognizing this issue and will precisely identify the causes and problems that led to ballot shortages at some polling stations immediately after the vote count concludes, and will establish measures to prevent recurrence. We apologize once again for disappointing you with our inadequate preparation and response."

Earlier that afternoon, a situation occurred at some polling stations in Gangnam-gu, Gwangjin-gu, and Songpa-gu in Seoul, where voters had to wait due to a shortage of ballots.