Government to operate situation room to ensure election integrity ahead of early presidential elections
Following the South Korean Cabinet’s confirmation of June 3 as the early presidential election day, the government announced Tuesday that some 510 billion won ($344 million) of the national budget will be spent covering election costs.
During Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, chaired by acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the government approved a special expenditure plan to allow 395.7 billion won to be used in managing domestic and overseas voting, supporting political parties and helping local governments conduct election-related tasks.
The move comes as only 2.9 billion won was initially allocated to the National Election Commission this year, making it necessary to use the government’s contingency budget.
Out of the 2.4 trillion won in this year’s contingency funds, 1.6 trillion won allocated for elections, disasters and emergencies will cover election-related expenses exceeding the budget allocated to the NEC for elections.
As for election cost reimbursements given to presidential candidates within 70 days of election day, the government estimates around 115 billion won to be used, bringing the total expected government expenditure for the early elections to over 510 billion won. For presidential candidates that garner more than 15 percent of the vote, the government fully reimburses election costs. Those who garner less than 15 percent of votes are reimbursed half of the total election costs.
The campaign spending cap for each party or candidate in this election is set at around 48.4 billion won. With both the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party expected to surpass the 15 percent threshold in votes, a combined 96.8 billion won is anticipated to go into reimbursements.
In a press briefing after Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, the Ministry of Interior and Safety announced that it will operate a situation room to oversee the progress of legally mandated election tasks.
“Due to a vacancy in the presidency, the upcoming 21st presidential elections will be held within a short 60-day period,” said acting Interior Minister Ko Ki-dong. “Given the unprecedented public interest in the upcoming elections, the ministry will provide utmost support to ensure it is conducted fairly and transparently.”
Although details regarding how the situation room will operate will be announced soon, an Interior Ministry official explained to The Korea Herald that it will run similarly to how it was run during the general elections in April 2024.
“The scale of the situation room, however, will differ in terms of the personnel selected to work in it for the presidential elections, given the scale of importance the upcoming elections hold,” the ministry official added.
The situation room will be required to oversee the preparation of electoral registers and cooperate with relevant agencies, including the NEC and the police. It will monitor all election-related duties by the NEC and local governments according to the election schedule while conducting on-site inspections and providing support in terms of facilities, personnel and equipment.
Additionally, the situation room will be tasked with tracking major developments and incidents related to the elections and work with relevant agencies to ensure a prompt and coordinated response in support of fair and transparent elections.
As for illegal election activities, including the filming of polls and generating fake news content targeting presidential candidates, Ko added that the government will respond “strictly, in cooperation with relevant agencies such as the prosecution and police.”
According to the Ministry of Justice, directives were issued to the prosecution by acting Justice Minister Kim Seok-woo, to be prepared in “rigorously cracking down on major election crimes, such as the spread of false information, false propaganda, bribery and election-related violence.”
Moreover, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency began recruiting police personnel to safeguard presidential candidates once the campaigning period begins, as the Korean National Police Agency is currently working to formulate a nationwide security plan for the upcoming elections.
Once official election campaigning begins, the KNPA plans to deploy detectives, riot police and police personnel associated with local precincts to support campaign sites.
lee.jungjoo@heraldcorp.com
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