A special counsel team investigating alleged misconduct at South Korea's election authorities has launched compulsory measures against the National Election Commission after finding indications of collusion with a particular company in a 5 billion won ($3.5 million) project to produce polling station supply kits.
The special counsel team, led by Special Counsel Lee Tae-han, said on the 14th that it was searching a total of five locations, including the National Election Commission and companies handling election supplies in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, and in Daegu, on suspicion of breach of trust and obstruction of bidding.
The searches aim to secure documents related to the production of supply kits for early voting stations and polling stations in the 21st presidential election and the 9th nationwide local elections. The combined value of the projects for the two elections comes to about 5 billion won.
"In the course of the investigation, we confirmed suspicions that the National Election Commission colluded with a particular company while pursuing the project," the team said.
The searches of the election supply companies began at 8 a.m., and the search of the National Election Commission at 9 a.m. A total of 31 investigators were deployed, including six forensic investigators from the special counsel's office and three from the National Police Agency.
The team plans to analyze the seized material to determine whether there were preferential arrangements in the contracting and vendor selection process for the supply kits, and whether election commission officials were involved.
The special counsel, launched on the 7th of last month, is investigating 12 sets of allegations, including a shortage of ballot papers during the 9th nationwide local elections, manipulation of voting statistics, junket-style overseas trips by election commission officials, irregular hiring and promotion favors, and preferential private contracts and collusion with companies. Since its launch, the team has received original investigative records and evidence from the joint police-prosecution investigation headquarters for review and has questioned complainants. On the 17th of the same month, it carried out its first compulsory measures by searching 10 offices, including the National Election Commission and regional election commissions in Gyeonggi Province, Incheon, Busan and Daegu. It has since completed an initial analysis of the seized material and is questioning those involved.
The team is also verifying the election management system. Since the 22nd of last month, it has stationed specialized forensic investigators inside the National Election Commission to examine allegations of manipulated election statistics as well as the management, security and operation of the system. The approach involves directly verifying whether relevant records exist and whether they were manipulated, concealed or destroyed, and obtaining necessary documents. Four experts in digital forensics and information security have also been appointed as investigation advisers.
"Based on the analysis of the seized material, we will establish the substantive truth about the election commission's lax management overall, including preferential private contracts and collusion with companies, and rigorously determine where responsibility lies," an official with the special counsel team said.