Rep. Joo Jin-woo: 82% of NEC Contracts Over Past 5 Years Were Private Contracts

The National Election Commission (NEC) signed private contracts for eight out of every ten contracts over the past five years, according to Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party.

Rep. Joo, a member of the Special Committee on the Investigation of Infringements on Voting Rights and Election Management Reform—including the ballot shortage incident during the June 3 local elections—stated at a press conference at the National Assembly today (June 19) that a full analysis of 2,665 NEC contracts from the past five years showed that 82.1% were private contracts. He pointed out that this figure reached 87.7% last year alone.

"The Act on Contracts to Which the State Is a Party stipulates that competitive bidding is the principle for contracts involving state agencies, while private contracts are only permitted as an exception," Rep. Joo said. "Given the remarkably high proportion of private contracts by the NEC, it is inevitable to verify the appropriateness of the reasons, potential collusion with specific companies, and whether there are any conflicts of interest."

Rep. Joo also explained that some of the top 10 companies that frequently signed private contracts with the NEC were found to have a history of being related parties to the largest shareholder of Ssangbangwool.

He added that it was also confirmed that individuals with ties to the Democratic Party of Korea were appointed as outside directors for companies that ranked high in receiving private contracts from the NEC.

"It is necessary to verify whether there was any exercise of influence or preferential treatment in the process of these companies repeatedly signing private contracts with the NEC," Rep. Joo said. He announced plans to request an investigation by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission into potential conflicts of interest between former and current NEC employees and contractors, as well as any illicit solicitations made through outside directors.

He further added, "A special counsel is essential to uncover, without any sanctuary, the NEC's closed organizational culture and secrecy, its collusion with specific companies, and whether individuals affiliated with the Democratic Party of Korea were involved."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.