On the 24th, Board of Audit and Inspection President Kim Ho-chul said at his first press briefing since taking office that he had launched a financial audit of the National Election Commission in connection with the shortage of ballots in the June 3 local elections. Kim, a former head of Lawyers for a Democratic Society, also served as co-chair of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement. He began his four-year term in January.
Earlier, the Constitutional Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the Board of Audit and Inspection to inspect the duties of constitutional institutions. However, under the Board of Audit and Inspection Act, the finances of constitutional institutions may be audited.
Kim said, "The public is highly interested and concerned about the infringement of suffrage in an election that the public cannot accept." He added, "After the Board of Audit and Inspection committee's resolution yesterday, we began collecting materials today for a financial audit." He went on, "We will collect materials, set the scope and period of the audit, and select audit items, and we expect to begin an on-site audit around July."
Kim said, "Issues such as spending for election expenses, sloppy settlement of election expenses, and improper purchase or neglect of election equipment or supplies—failures of proper management—could have been flagged in prior audits," adding, "We have continued to demand such corrections."
Meanwhile, explaining the Board of Audit and Inspection's future operating policy, Kim said, "Even if a public official unavoidably deviated from regulations, if there is a public-interest outcome that improved public convenience, we will not hold them accountable." He said, "From now on, every audit will make improving the convenience of the public, the final consumers, a core value." He added, "We will take a step forward into a new paradigm that solves chronic problems in people's lives and on the ground, and that balances administrative realities with merits and faults."