[Anchor]

Seven out of nine members of the National Election Commission (NEC) who were in office at the time of the election management failure failed to appear on time for the National Assembly's parliamentary investigation. Even by the afternoon, two of those seven members remained absent. Wi Chul-hwan, the acting chairperson of the NEC, even requested the deletion of his remarks from the official record after stating that, at the very least, politicians should not be calling for a re-election.

Our first report today, June 24, comes from Kim Bo-mi.

[Reporter]

Yesterday morning, at the National Assembly's Special Committee on the Parliamentary Investigation.

Regarding the shortage of ballot papers, only two of the nine NEC members—former Chairperson Noh Tae-ak and Acting Chairperson Wi Chul-hwan—were in attendance.

As seven NEC members, the former chairperson of the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission, and the former chairperson of the Songpa-gu Election Commission were among those who failed to show up, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties harshly criticized the move as the height of irresponsibility and a disregard for the public.

[Kim Young-bae / Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker: You, more than anyone else, should know the significance of this situation in our constitutional order. The very fact that you are absent from this seat shows how irresponsible your attitude is...]

[Kim Eun-hye / People Power Party lawmaker: The former Seoul Election Commission chairperson, the Songpa-gu Election Commission chairperson, and all non-standing members, including the vice-chairperson, are absent. I see this as a collective act of insubordination against the public.]

Former NEC Chairperson Noh Tae-ak expressed his sense of responsibility for the incident, yet regarding the decision to "reduce ballot paper printing by 50%," he claimed he could not recall the details.

[Noh Tae-ak / Former NEC Chairperson: I don't remember, but I believe a report of this brief nature was likely made through the Secretary-General's final approval.]

Acting NEC Chairperson Wi Chul-hwan also acknowledged the shortcomings in election management and offered an apology, but drew a line at calls for his resignation.

[Wi Chul-hwan / Acting NEC Chairperson: The NEC is currently on the verge of paralysis. The approval line would collapse. Nothing could be done. I believe that would be irresponsible.]

Oh Min-seok, former chairperson of the Seoul Election Commission, and Min So-young, former chairperson of the Songpa-gu Election Commission—who were responsible for the regions where the voting suspension crisis was most concentrated—only appeared late in the afternoon following continued reprimands from the National Assembly.

(Video reporting: Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan | Video editing: Jeon Min-gyu)