Another Scandal Hits Election Commission Over KRW 5 Billion Bid Rigging Suspicions

The Special Prosecutor Team for the National Election Commission has uncovered additional suspicions of bid-rigging amounting to about 5 billion won involving the election commission and launched a surprise raid.

The special counsel team announced that starting at 8:00 a.m. today (October 14), it is conducting raids on five locations, including the National Election Commission, as well as election supply companies in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, and Daegu, on charges of occupational breach of trust and obstruction of bidding.

About 30 personnel were deployed to the search sites, including 6 forensic investigators from the special counsel team and 3 from the Korean National Police Agency.

The special counsel team stated that it has captured suspicions that the election commission colluded with a specific company during the project to produce voting station supply sets worth approximately 5 billion won during the 21st presidential election last year and the local elections this year.

The special counsel team has been intensively investigating various allegations surrounding the election commission, including the ballot paper shortage incident during the June 3 local elections, as well as bid-rigging and collusion suspicions regarding a pre-voting box supply company operated by a former party affairs division official of the National Election Commission, surnamed A.

It was learned that the bid-rigging suspicions targeted in this raid are a separate case independently uncovered by the special counsel team during the course of the investigation.

The special counsel team plans to analyze the seized items to examine overall suspicions of lax management by the election commission, such as preferential private contracts and collusion with businesses, and to determine the accountability of those involved.

(Reported by Park Se-won | Video by Lee Yu-jin | Graphics by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.