Former Election Commission Chief Attended Work Less Than Half the Time Before Election

Noh Tae-ak, the former chairman of South Korea's National Election Commission (NEC), attended work for just over half of the available working days in the three months preceding the recent election. Records obtained by lawmaker Yoon Kun-young's office show that Noh was present for only 34 out of 60 working days between his retirement as a Supreme Court justice on March 3 and election day.

Further analysis of his attendance, where precise times were recorded, reveals a pattern of late arrivals and early departures. Out of 29 days with confirmed times, Noh arrived before 9 a.m. on only one occasion. On nearly half of these days, 14 in total, he arrived in the afternoon, and on at least one day, he clocked in at 4 p.m. and left at 5:30 p.m. His departure time was also often before 6 p.m., with 21 days recorded as leaving before that hour. On election day itself, he reportedly arrived at 9:30 a.m.

“

In March and April, there were not many matters that the chairman needed to receive real-time reports on. During the period when the workload sharply increased after candidate registration, he attended almost every day. As it is a non-standing position and the working hours are not fixed, it is difficult to consider him negligent just because his arrival time was late. In fact, he attended more frequently than previous chairmen.

The NEC chairman position is officially non-standing, meaning there is no mandatory requirement for regular office hours. This has long been a point of criticism, as the position is typically held concurrently by a Supreme Court justice, raising concerns about the ability to dedicate sufficient attention to election management. However, Noh Tae-ak retired from his Supreme Court position on March 3, making him effectively a full-time chairman in the lead-up to the election.

The National Election Commission defended Noh's attendance record, stating that the workload for the chairman is not consistently high, particularly in the months of March and April. An NEC official noted that Noh was present almost daily during the period when the workload significantly increased after candidate registrations. The commission argued that his late arrivals do not necessarily indicate a lack of diligence, given the flexible nature of the non-standing role and that his attendance was more frequent than previous chairmen.

“

He arrived at 9 a.m. on election day after voting at 9 a.m. While he could have voted earlier, we understand he did so at 9 a.m. for the convenience of media coverage.