On-Site Inspection at Olympic Park Set for Tomorrow: "Secure Access" vs. "Risk of Clashes"

[Anchor]

During today's (July 1) National Assembly parliamentary investigation into the ballot paper shortage, ruling and opposition parties clashed over a request for police cooperation for tomorrow's on-site inspection at the Olympic Park vote-counting station. The Democratic Party argued that police must secure access routes, while the People Power Party expressed concerns that such measures could lead to physical clashes with protesters.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has the story.

[Reporter]

At today's National Assembly parliamentary investigation into the ballot paper shortage.

As an on-site inspection of the Olympic Park vote-counting station in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and the Songpa-gu Election Commission is scheduled for tomorrow, Democratic Party lawmakers argued that police should secure access routes, as they are visiting to verify the site on behalf of the public.

[Yoon Kun-young / Democratic Party Lawmaker: The area around Olympic Park is surrounded by protesters, making the situation difficult.]

Conversely, the People Power Party opposed the move, arguing that it could be perceived as the use of public authority against protesters.

[Joo Jin-woo / People Power Party Lawmaker: Who will take responsibility for any physical clashes that may arise there?]

After much debate, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to send an official request for cooperation to the police and to increase the number of on-site inspections from the originally planned one to two.

The conservative opposition questioned the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, asking if they had been late in recognizing the severity of the situation, and argued that the government should be held responsible.

[Park Soo-min / People Power Party Lawmaker: Is a situation room that only learns about issues through media reports worth spending taxpayers' money on? What is the Minister of the Interior and Safety's response to this?]

[Yoon Ho-jung / Minister of the Interior and Safety: I am speaking strictly regarding constitutional authority.]

The pan-ruling camp defended the government, stating that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety only provides support and that the responsibility lies with the National Election Commission.

[Kim Young-bae / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Regardless of the reasons, nothing should be done to undermine the basic independence and neutrality of the National Election Commission.]

The National Election Commission announced a belated countermeasure, stating that starting in the second half of this year, it will print ballot papers equal to the number of voters, or 100 percent.

[Kang Dong-wan / Acting Secretary-General of the National Election Commission: We will make 100 percent printing the principle, and any reductions will require a resolution by the National Election Commission.]

The National Election Commission also stated that if the National Assembly's special investigation committee passes a resolution, it is willing to allow the ruling and opposition parties and civic groups to jointly and publicly verify the ballot boxes and ballot papers stored at the Songpa-gu counting station.

(Video coverage: Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo | Video editing: Jang Hyun-ki)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.