[Anchor]

We reported exclusively last week that former National Election Commission (NEC) Chairperson Noh Tae-ak used taxpayer money for overseas business trips accompanied by his spouse. Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties have collectively criticized this issue. Former Chairperson Noh offered a belated apology, acknowledging that his actions did not meet the public's expectations.

Here is the report by Kim Soo-young.

[Reporter]

Former NEC Chairperson Noh Tae-ak appeared before the National Assembly's Special Committee on State Administration Investigation.

Following the SBS report that he had taken three overseas trips with his wife using taxpayer money—and that the NEC had concealed the fact that his spouse accompanied him—lawmakers from both sides of the aisle rebuked him.

[Kim Nam-hee / Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker: You didn't hesitate to spend 12 million won on round-trip airfare for your spouse to accompany you on these trips, yet you claim that the budget for ballot papers is something that needs to be cut?]

[Joo Jin-woo / People Power Party lawmaker: Isn't the point of public outrage the fact that Chairperson Noh Tae-ak took his spouse along on overseas trips and essentially toured resort areas?]

In particular, criticism was raised regarding the timing of his trips to Germany and Estonia, which took place around the time the Board of Audit and Inspection was investigating allegations of preferential hiring of children of NEC officials in 2024.

Former Chairperson Noh bowed his head, stating that he believed the trips were permissible because the budget for spouse-accompanied travel had already been allocated as part of the protocol for a high-ranking official, but he admitted that it did not align with public sentiment.

[Noh Tae-ak / Former National Election Commission Chairperson: Looking at it from the current perspective, I feel deeply sorry that it appeared that way to the public. I will look into ways to return the (overseas travel) expenses.]

Allegations of "vacation-like" overseas trips by NEC staff were also brought to the table.

This is because many of the overseas destinations visited by NEC employees from 2022 to June of this year included popular resorts and tourist spots such as the Maldives, Kota Kinabalu, and Florence.

[Yang Bu-nam / Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker: Have you ever seen research conducted through overseas trips like this? Have you ever seen a country where people couldn't vote because they ran out of ballots?]

The People Power Party has filed a complaint against former Chairperson Noh and other NEC officials on charges of professional embezzlement.

(Video reporting: Shin Dong-hwan | Video editing: Jang Hyun-ki)