South Korean Election Commission's Lavish Overseas Trips Under Fire Amid Ballot Shortage Scandal

The South Korean National Election Commission (NEC) faces public criticism following a ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections. Amidst this controversy, an audit of the NEC's overseas travel has revealed questionable spending and destinations.

Over the past five years, from 2022 to June 2024, NEC employees embarked on 107 overseas trips, involving 461 individuals and costing approximately 2.45 billion won ($1.77 million). The travel destinations included popular resort locations such as the Maldives, Thailand, and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, alongside trips for "election observation" and "overseas election preparation."

One trip in September 2023 to observe the Maldivian presidential election cost around 14.7 million won for five employees. Another in November 2023, ostensibly to check overseas election preparations, took five people to Thailand, Malaysia, and Kota Kinabalu for about 19.2 million won. These trips have drawn particular ire, especially given the recent election management issues.

Furthermore, the NEC appears to have a pattern of repeated visits to the same locations for similar purposes. For instance, employees visited Florence and Milan, Italy, for "staff capacity building" in 2022, spending about 30 million won. The following year, nine employees visited Florence and Venice for the same reason, costing another 30 million won. A similar trip to Florence is planned for 2025 with a budget of 22.9 million won.

Reports submitted after these trips have also been criticized for their lack of substance. A report from a 2023 trip to Japan, which cost 13 million won for six employees to study postal and ship voting systems, vaguely stated that "election systems in Japan and Korea are similar in the broad framework, but there are differences in operating methods due to differences in political and cultural environments." Similarly, a 2022 report on a study trip to Germany mentioned observing well-preserved sites of "tragic history."

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The NEC, which was already criticized for poor election management and incompetence years ago, has been found to be conducting its overseas trips poorly as well. At this point, it's no exaggeration to say it's not just a 'god-given job' but a god itself. The cases of budget waste must be thoroughly investigated to determine responsibility.