Roh Tae-ak, chairman of the National Election Commission (NEC), announced his intention to resign Thursday, taking responsibility for the ballot shortage that occurred during the June 3 local elections.
Roh issued a public apology at the NEC headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, saying, "Taking full responsibility for all of this, I too will step down from the post of National Election Commission chairman."
Bowing his head over the ballot shortage that occurred at polling stations in some areas during the 9th nationwide local elections held on June 3, Roh said, "I cannot contain my apologies for the concern this has caused the public."
"The ballot shortage damaged the public's high interest in local autonomy and their active expression of intent shown through their participation in voting," Roh said. "As National Election Commission chairman, I feel devastated and an infinite sense of responsibility over a situation that has undermined the public's trust in election management and led to distrust in the electoral process."
"There is no excuse for an event that should never have happened, infringing on voting rights, a precious right of the people," he continued. "I will establish a fact-finding committee as quickly as possible to prevent such an incident from recurring."
Roh explained that the fact-finding committee, composed of outside experts, would investigate the causes of the ballot shortage, the response process, and measures to prevent recurrence.
"I will sincerely cooperate with all procedures to verify the election commission's responsibility for this incident, including a parliamentary investigation," he said. "If there is responsibility to be borne based on the results, I will by no means evade it."
He also said that NEC Secretary-General Heo Cheol-hoon had offered to resign, taking responsibility for the incident.
The incident arose on June 3 when ballots ran short at some polling stations in Seoul's Songpa, Gangnam, and Gwangjin districts, forcing voters to wait for long periods. Since then, both the ruling and opposition parties have strongly pressed the NEC over its poor election management.
