[Column] What do people crying election fraud in Korea even want?

By Bang Hye-rin, secretary general of the Center for Military Human Rights Korea

I recently received an unusual phone call for a consultation at the center. It was a complaint from a soldier who said his request for leave to vote in the June 3 local elections was rejected. I asked if his duties made it difficult for him to vote early and why he insisted on taking leave to go to a polling station near his home when early voting was available.

He replied that he had to vote on Election Day because of rumored fraud in early voting, and that preventing him from casting his ballot on the day of the election itself was a violation of his right to vote.

Though momentarily speechless, I concluded the call by saying that since he had no valid reason to opt out of early voting and that his military unit had fully ensured his right to vote, it would be difficult to definitively conclude that this was a violation of his right to political participation.

Since the 2024 insurrection attempt, conspiracy theories about election fraud have spread like wildfire among those who supported the former president’s declaration of martial law. Such notions have gained more traction following the ballot shortage in last week’s local elections. But no matter how you slice it, the primary fault lies with the National Election Commission (NEC), which clearly dropped the ball.

As a constitutional body, the NEC must deeply reflect on how it played into the hands of election fraud conspiracy theories and conduct a comprehensive overhaul of the organization. A thorough review of the election watchdog as well as the election management system is in order.

But was this election fraud? On Election Day, voting was temporarily suspended due to a shortage of ballots but eventually resumed after they were resupplied. Content from a KakaoTalk chat room used by officials at polling sites released to the media by the Korean Government Employees Union said the ballot situation at each polling station was monitored; in some places, ballots were delivered within voting hours.

Resolving suspicion and assigning blame should focus on clarifying why the NEC provided inadequate supervision and responses despite the situation being shared in real time. It is dangerous to jump to the conclusion that the ballot shortage was part of some big, sinister plot to rig the vote rather than a straightforward infringement of voting rights.

I also fail to understand the reason for claiming that the election was stolen. The concept of electoral fraud means gaining an advantage through illegitimate means or bre