The NEC (National Election Commission of Korea)’s ODA budget of around 5 million USD is used for operating expenses of the World Council of Election Agencies. Roughly 7 million USD in subsidies are for projects outside the scope of the NEC.

While the National Election Commission was caught in a lawsuit over the April 15 corruption suspicion, the Central Election Commission had already carried out a project in September last year without properly reviewing the political environment of the target country in relation to the project to establish an advanced election system in developing countries. It turned out that the proceedings were caught by the auditor.

It was found that the budget for the official development assistance (ODA) project executed by the Central Election Commission was inappropriately executed, such as being used for the operating expenses of the World Council of Election Agencies (A-WEB). It is that the project does not fit the original purpose of the Central Election Commission.

According to the auditing results of NEC’s ODA Project Promotion, Management, and Supervision' released in September of last year, 5 million USD in operating expenses such as office rent for the World Election Organization Council from 2016 to 2018 was different from the purpose of related laws and regulations.

The International Council of Election Agencies (A-WEB), a non-profit international organization supervised by the Central Election Commission, was established in Songdo International City, Incheon in 2013, and is promoting various projects to support the improvement of the election system for countries around the world. The ODA project is directly performed, subsidies are provided to the World Council of Election Agencies, or contracts are made with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

The Board of Audit and Inspection announced that 9 projects, which are difficult to see as the scope of the Central Election Commission's work, were designated as council projects without public offerings for subsidiaries and paid 7 million USD in subsidies from 2016 to 2018. In addition, the project was promoted without properly reviewing the political environment of the target country in advance. In particular, for A-WEB, even though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an opinion of 'nonconformity', the project was carried out as it is, and the contents of the project were belatedly changed. There were also suspicions of preferential treatment for not complying.

In particular, in the case of the El Salvador Election ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Project, the electronic election was prohibited under the El Salvador Election Act, even though an inappropriate opinion was received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country concluding that optical reading and recounting machines can be abused for illegal elections. As a result, it was recognized that the use of optical reading and counting machines was not possible, and it changed to a terminal supply business for sending ballot results.

The Audit Council conducted bidding for Ecuador, El Salvador, and Fiji elections ICT advancement projects and ODA infrastructure projects, while demonstrating the products of Company A in advance and delivering the improvement requirements of the target countries. It caused a controversy over preferential treatment by letting them develop products in advance.

In 2019, the Board of Audit and Inspection said to the Chairman of the Central Election Commission asked to provide assistance for ODA projects through the World Council of Election Organizations, focusing on the work specified in the law, and devise a plan for contributing or consigning the remaining ODA projects to KOICA or selecting a subsidiary through public offering.

In addition, it was found that an organization called A-WEB itself has been active since its establishment in October 2013, and has not been registered with the corporate license procedure and establishment registration in accordance with the World Election Agency Support Act until April of this year. In short, the A-WEB supported by the Central Election Commission had no form and was set up in a hurry to waste the national budget. In this regard, it is also known that the Board of Audit and Inspection notified the Chairman of the Central Election Commission to prepare a plan for the Council to implement the relevant procedures.

The Central Election Commission is under suspicion of fraudulent elections along with poor management of the 21st general elections in the Republic of Korea in 2020, and has been used for fraudulent elections such as the electronic voting system in Iraq, Congo, Kyrgyzstan and Ecuador, which have directly or indirectly supported through A-WEB for the past 5 years. Writes the stigma of exporting the alleged voting system.

Meanwhile, Secretary General Kim Yong-hee of A-WEB, which was operated with funds from the Central Election Commission and known for its close relationship with the Election Commission, was investigated by the Incheon District Prosecutor's Office on charges of embezzlement related to the export of Iraqi election equipment. However, the Central Election Commission was confiscated and searched. It is pointed out that there is a problem with equity because there is no such procedure.

Even in the alleged lawsuit against the Korean National Election Commission on April 15 this year, the prosecution has not conducted any investigations against the Central Election Commission, raising suspicions that the prosecution is making a political decision. Even the Supreme Court has not proceeded with any judicial proceedings such as recounting until six months after the lawsuit was filed.

Fn투데이는 여러분의 후원금을 귀하게 쓰겠습니다.

Seyoung In 다른기사 보기