First Special Committee Hearing... Clash Over Recount of 2.47 Million Ballots

Ruling Party: "Immediate Recount" vs. Opposition: "Special Prosecutor First"

The ruling and opposition parties clashed over the issue of recounting 2.47 million ballots stored at the Olympic Park Handball Arena in Songpa-gu, Seoul during the first hearing on the "insufficient ballot papers incident" in the 9th Nationwide Local Elections held at the National Assembly on July 14. The Democratic Party of Korea called for an immediate recount, while the People Power Party insisted on launching a special prosecutor first.

Yoon Sanghyun, chairman of the National Assembly’s Special Committee for a National Investigation on the Insufficient Ballots Crisis (People Power Party), stated in his opening remarks at the first hearing on the morning of the 14th, "Neither a public recount nor a special prosecutor should be delayed any further," and proposed, "The special committee should introduce and adopt a resolution for prompt passage of the Special Prosecutor Act."

Former National Election Commission Chairman Taeak Noh (left in the photo) is seen shaking hands with Yoon Sanghyun, the chairman and member of the People Power Party, after handing over the oath statement at the first hearing of the "Special Committee for the National Investigation on the Shortage of Ballots in the 9th Nationwide Simultaneous Local Elections and Election Management Reform to Address the Infringement of the People's Voting Rights," held at the National Assembly on the 14th. Photo by Yonhap News

Even before the hearing formally began, the ruling and opposition parties fiercely debated the recount of the 2.47 million ballots at Olympic Park. Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Yonggi commented during procedural remarks, "Why are we wasting time?" adding, "We should conduct a complete manual recount of the 2.47 million ballots within this week, so we can proceed with the hearing."

The People Power Party countered by arguing for the launch of a special prosecutor before any recount. Lawmaker Joo Jinwoo of the People Power Party responded, "If a recount is conducted, it will be led by the National Election Commission, which would involve handling evidence related to the investigation in advance," emphasizing, "A special prosecutor must come first."

In response, ruling party secretary Yoon Kunyoung stated, "It takes nearly a month before a special prosecutor actually begins activities," and suggested, "Our position is to conduct both the special prosecutor investigation and the recount immediately." Reform Party lawmaker Lee Junseok concurred, saying, "If the stance is that we shouldn’t do anything because we’re waiting for a special prosecutor, the special committee might as well close today."

Opposition secretary Seo Beomsoo of the People Power Party commented, "While it would be ideal for the special prosecutor to be launched quickly and proceed in parallel, if it drags on, we are considering a compromise: hold a public verification of the recount for citizens, setting a date within the special committee’s operation period, which ends on August 1."

Meanwhile, at the hearing, around 90 key witnesses attended, including Wi Cheolhwan, acting chairman of the National Election Commission, and former commission chairman Noh Taeak.

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