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

[Anchor]

During the National Assembly's parliamentary investigation into the ballot paper shortage incident, ruling and opposition parties clashed over whether to request police cooperation for today's (July 2) on-site inspection of the Olympic Park vote-counting station.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has the story.

[Reporter]

At the parliamentary investigation into the ballot paper shortage held yesterday.

As the on-site inspection of the Olympic Park vote-counting station in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and the Songpa-gu Election Commission is set to take place today, Democratic Party lawmakers argued that the police must secure an access route, as they are visiting the site as representatives of the people.

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

On the other hand, the People Power Party opposed this, stating that it could be perceived as the exercise of public authority against protesters.

[Joo Jin-woo / People Power Party Lawmaker: Who will take responsibility for any physical clashes that may occur 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 one to two.

The conservative opposition questioned the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, asking if they had belatedly realized the severity of the situation, and argued for the government's responsibility.

[Park Soo-min / People Power Party Lawmaker: Is a situation room that only finds out about things by watching media reports worth spending taxpayer money on? What is the Minister of the Interior and Safety's answer right now?]

[Yoon Ho-jung / Minister of the Interior and Safety: I am speaking strictly about 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 (NEC).

[Kim Young-bae / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Even if there is a reason, nothing should be done to undermine the basic independence and neutrality of the NEC.]

The National Election Commission announced a belated measure to print 100% of the required ballot papers, matching the number of voters, starting in the second half of this year.

[Kang Dong-wan / Acting Secretary-General of the National Election Commission: We will make 100% 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 would be willing to allow the ballot boxes and ballot papers stored at the Songpa-gu counting station to be publicly verified by the ruling and opposition parties, as well as civic groups.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.