South Korea's Election Commission reveals systematic obstruction of BAI investigation

As it was revealed that former and current officials of the Korea National Election Commission and eight city and provincial election commissions had given preferential treatment to their children, systematic obstruction and delays were found in the audit process.
According to the Board of Audit and Inspection on the 1st, while undergoing an audit of the hiring irregularities, the Election Management Committee submitted copies of documents to the auditors in which the personal information of former and current officials involved in the irregularities had been blacked out with black pen.
To uncover fraudulent hiring practices, personal information of the people involved is essential, but despite knowing this, they did not cooperate with the audit. Even when the Board of Audit and Inspection requested documents, they refused to provide them, claiming that approval from higher-ups was required.
The BAI also refused to conduct computer forensics, delaying audits by nearly three weeks until the final consultation, the BAI said.
The BAI said, "In addition to the irregular hiring of employees by the Election Management Committee, there was a serious loosening of discipline in the organizational and personnel fields, abusive personnel management to increase the number of high-ranking positions, expedient organizational management, and a mere formality.
However, due to the lack of cooperation from the Election Management Committee, no documents related to the operation of the third-level or higher positions were submitted.
"We received cooperation to the extent that it did not impede the audit results, but it took a considerable amount of time to secure the materials due to the selective submission of documents by the Election Management Commission and delays in their submission," he said.
The audit, which began in July last year, took about nine months to be released. As a result of the audit, the election commission decided to demote the candidates from their advised positions to mid-level executive positions.
It was found that petitions to adopt children were common and that recruiters used a variety of illegal and expedient methods.
There were also many confirmed cases of attempts to destroy or conceal evidence.
In the process of filing the petition, the Election Commission attempted to destroy evidence by falsifying files detailing the methods used for fraudulent recruitment and destroying documents.
In the political world, there are calls for the election commission chairpersons at each level to be full-time positions, and for the chairperson of the central election commission to be removed from the five important positions (the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, and the Chairperson of the Central Election Commission).
Opinions have also been raised.