"Are You Turning the Election Commission Into a Fortress?"... Looking at the 1.4 Billion Won Budget Request

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The National Election Commission has drawn up plans to spend 1.4 billion won to reinforce fences and guard posts around its office building, and even purchase anti-air defense equipment. While the stated purpose is to strengthen security in line with its designation as a national security facility of the highest security grade, critics are pointing out that this amounts to an out-of-the-blue fortification of the building.

Reported by Park Chan-beom.

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According to the budget request project description materials for 2027 submitted by the National Election Commission to the National Assembly, the total scale of the commission's budget bill for next year is set at 478.3 billion won.

Out of that amount, 1.463 billion won is designated for office building protection.

Looking at the detailed breakdown, about 320 million won is allocated to install 2.7-meter-high fences around the building to prevent scaling and to build guard posts in various locations, while about 460 million won will go toward replacing the main gate and installing obstacles to prevent vehicles from forcefully breaking through.

Budget for protective equipment is also included, such as 80 million won for an anti-drone gun intended to force drones down, 3.3 million won for gas sprayers, and 4.4 million won for telescopic batons.

The election commission has also requested 29 million won for purchasing firearm storage lockers and communication equipment in accordance with a plan to newly organize a workplace reserve force.

At a time when public criticism is fierce due to internal issues at the election commission, such as the ballot paper shortage incident and the voter turnout manipulation incident, the disclosure of a "building fortification budget" aimed at blocking external intrusions has prompted criticisms that it is "absurd."

[Kim Eun-hye / People Power Party lawmaker: They are being told to reform to the level of dismantling, and yet they talk about 'fortification'? Instead of self-reflection, are they only looking out for their own survival? This will not simply be glossed over during the National Assembly's budget deliberation.]

An official from the National Election Commission told SBS, "This is a measure to strengthen protection following the designation of our office building as a 'Grade A' facility, which is the highest security grade among national critical facilities, starting last December," adding, "It is not an excessive budget request."

(Photo courtesy of SBS | Video by Kim Nam-sung | Video Editing by Lee Seung-jin | Design by Choi Jin-hoe and Lee So-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.