'Noh Tae-ak, Who Resigned Over Ballot Shortage, Received 179 Million Won in Allowances for Four Years of Part-Time Service'

Evidence of Regulatory Revisions to Secure "Loophole Allowances" Following Audit Board's Criticism

Noh Tae-ak, the former Chairman of the National Election Commission who resigned following the shortage of ballots during the June 3 local elections, was found to have received nearly 180 million won in various allowances while serving part-time during his tenure.

No Tae-ak, chairman of the National Election Commission, made a public apology for the shortage of ballots on the 5th at the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News

According to data submitted by the National Election Commission to Kim Minjeon, a member of the People Power Party, on June 19, Noh received a total of 179,103,220 won in allowances from May 2022, when he assumed office, until last month, just before his resignation. By year, the highest amount was in 2024 with 46.95 million won, followed by 2023 (42.45 million won), 2025 (37.75 million won), 2022 (30.60 million won), and 2026 (21.35 million won).

By category, the breakdown was as follows: 97.1 million won for "Fair Election Promotion Activities Allowance," 66.3 million won for "Agenda Review Allowance," and 15.7 million won for "Attendance Allowance." The "Fair Election Promotion Activities Allowance," which is paid on a fixed monthly basis regardless of Noh's attendance as a part-time chairman, accounted for more than half of the total allowances.

It was also revealed that the commission revised its allowance system to compensate for Noh's allowances. In November 2022, after the Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out that there was no legal basis for the monthly 2.9 million won "Fair Election Promotion Activities Allowance," the commission suspended this payment in January 2023. Instead, through an internal resolution, it amended the "Regulations on Committee Member Allowances" and tripled the "Agenda Review Allowance" from 100,000 won to 300,000 won. As a result, in June 2023 alone, Noh received 5.1 million won solely from the Agenda Review Allowance. Subsequently, in January 2024, after the National Assembly amended the Election Commission Act to provide a legal basis for the activities allowance, the commission restored the Agenda Review Allowance to 100,000 won.

There are also criticisms that he received excessive allowances considering his relatively lax attendance. For example, Noh received 4.1 million won after working one day on March 6, right before the election, 5.15 million won for attending 12 days in April, and 4.15 million won for attending 16 days in May, just before his resignation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.