[Anchor]

We previously reported exclusively that Noh Tae-ak, former chairperson of the National Election Commission (NEC), took his spouse along on overseas business trips funded by taxpayer money. During a parliamentary investigation, the former chairperson bowed his head, acknowledging that his actions did not meet the public's expectations.

Reporter Kim Soo-young has the story.

[Reporter]

Noh Tae-ak, former chairperson of the National Election Commission, appeared before the National Assembly's special investigation committee.

Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties unanimously criticized Noh regarding the SBS report that he had taken his wife on three overseas business trips funded by the government, and that the NEC had concealed the fact that his spouse accompanied him.

[Kim Nam-hee / Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker: You spent 12 million won on round-trip airfare for your spouse to accompany you on these trips. Is the budget for ballot papers really something that needs to be saved while you don't spare such expenses?]

[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 vacation spots?]

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

The former chairperson explained that he believed the trips were permissible because a budget for spouse-accompanied travel had already been allocated as part of the protocol for a high-ranking official (a member of the five branches of government). He bowed his head, admitting that it did not align with public sentiment.

[Noh Tae-ak / Former Chairperson of the National Election Commission: Looking at it from the current perspective, I am deeply apologetic for how this appears to the public. I will seek 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 famous resort areas and tourist spots such as the Maldives, Kota Kinabalu, and Florence.

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

The People Power Party has filed a criminal complaint against the former chairperson and NEC officials on charges of professional embezzlement.

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