Jo Hee-de, chief justice, accepted the resignation of National Election Commission Chairperson Roh Tae-ak. It came three days after Roh expressed intent to step down by issuing a public apology.
According to the legal community on the 8th, Chief Justice Jo on this day revoked the designation of Roh as National Election Commission Chairperson and notified the National Election Commission.
On the 5th, through a public apology, Roh said, "I fully recognize responsibility for all the circumstances and will step down from the chairperson post."
In the 9th nationwide local elections held on June 3, shortages of ballots, duplicate issuance of ballots, and detection of identity-theft voting occurred as examples of overall poor management.
The National Election Commission is composed of nine Commissioners. Three are appointed by the president, three are elected by the National Assembly, and three are designated by the chief justice.
Among them, since January 1963, when the commission was established, a Commissioner who is a Supreme Court justice has served as chairperson. Roh, the 22nd commission chairperson, took office in May 2022.
In March, ahead of Roh's retirement from the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Jo named Supreme Court Justice Chun Dae-yup as a National Election Commission Commissioner to succeed him.
For Justice Chun to be designated as chairperson, a National Assembly confirmation hearing is required. However, because the confirmation process for Justice Chun did not take place, Roh continued to serve as chairperson even after retiring from the Supreme Court.