The National Election Commission asked the National Assembly, which demanded "discipline" for standing commissioners over the ballot paper shortage that occurred in the June 3 local elections, to lower it to a "corrective action." In response, the People Power Party argued that discipline is needed for Standing Commissioner Wi Chul-hwan and others, while the Democratic Party of Korea said that since a related investigation is underway, discipline should be put on hold.
The Special Committee on Budget & Accounts held a settlement of account review subcommittee on the 3rd and conducted a review of the National Election Commission. At the subcommittee that day, 19 corrective action items for the National Election Commission that had been raised earlier in the standing committee were addressed.
At the core of the corrective action items was the ballot paper shortage that occurred in the June 3 local elections. The standing committee, holding the National Election Commission commissioners accountable for failing to establish risk management and contingency planning systems despite being in a position to continuously oversee election preparations and policy changes, demanded personnel measures such as discipline and voluntary resignation.
The National Election Commission said, "There were parts that damaged public trust in election management, such as the ballot paper shortage that occurred on the day of the local elections," but also said, "We request that the type of corrective action be changed from discipline to corrective action." "Corrective action" is a lower level of remedial demand than the "discipline" requested by the National Assembly.
The National Election Commission said, "In June, Chairperson Roh Tae-ak, the head of the agency, and former Secretary General Hur Chul-hoon, who was responsible for handling the matter, took responsibility and voluntarily resigned, and after the Inspector General's Office conducted a special audit, personnel accountability measures were taken, including severe disciplinary action against staff such as the director of election policy, who had also served as the election situation room chief."
It added, "To address the problems, we will faithfully comply with the National Assembly's parliamentary inquiry, the Board of Audit and Inspection's accounting audit, and the special prosecutor's investigation into the commission to thoroughly determine the cause of the situation," and said, "In light of these, we request that the corrective action type be changed to 'corrective action.'"
The People Power Party targeted Standing Commissioner Wi Chul-hwan, who is serving as acting National Election Commission chairperson. People Power Party lawmaker Bae Joon-young said during the review, "The most responsible person is Wi Chul-hwan, but asking to remove personnel measures from the corrective action items means not taking any responsibility at all," adding, "Personnel measures must be taken exactly as stated in the corrective action items in the materials."
The Democratic Party argued to postpone discipline, citing the ongoing investigation and the need to consider continuity of operations. Democratic Party lawmaker Park Ji-won said, "It's true someone has to take responsibility, but if the acting chairperson is also disciplined, continuity of operations will be lost." Fellow lawmaker Kim Sung-hoe also said, "If the investigation results come out, of course (responsibility will be taken)."