2026.10.15. The Fair Economy — The National Election Commission special counsel team raided 10 locations, including the Busan, South Gyeongsang and North Gyeongsang election commissions, launching an investigation into allegations of exclusive favoritism in election supply storage contracts, so-called "warehouse contracts."
Special Counsel Lee Tae-han said that starting at 9:30 a.m. on the 15th, investigators were raiding a total of 10 locations — three provincial and metropolitan election commissions, five city, county and district election commissions, the Election Training Institute, and the residence of an election commission official — on charges including breach of trust and bid obstruction.
The targets of the raids were three provincial-level election commissions — in Busan, South Gyeongsang and North Gyeongsang — and five city, county and district election commissions in Chilgok County and Nam District of Pohang in North Gyeongsang, Sacheon in South Gyeongsang, Dongnae District in Busan, and Ulju County in Ulsan. Also included were the Election Training Institute in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and the residence of an election commission official.
The special counsel team deployed a total of 34 personnel to the sites, including 10 forensic investigators. Given the large number of forensic investigators involved, the raids are expected to focus on seizing electronic devices and similar items.
The special counsel team confirmed that the Busan, South Gyeongsang and North Gyeongsang election commissions had repeatedly signed election supply storage contracts with a specific company since 2022, granting it exclusive favors. Election supply storage contracts are agreements for storing election-related materials in warehouses, and are known as so-called "warehouse contracts."
This latest raid follows a search conducted the previous day at five locations, including the National Election Commission and election supply companies. The special counsel team had confirmed signs of collusion between the National Election Commission and a specific company in the production of polling station supply sets for the 21st presidential election and the June 3 local elections, and launched a compulsory investigation the day before.
The special counsel team said, "Signs of collusion with a specific company were confirmed not only at the National Election Commission but also at regional election commissions," adding, "Based on an analysis of the seized materials, we will uncover the structural corruption behind the lax management of election commissions at all levels and hold those responsible strictly accountable."
The special counsel team plans to analyze the seized materials to determine how the contracts were signed, whether favors were provided, and the extent to which those involved were implicated.
The NEC special counsel was officially launched on September 7 under the Special Counsel Act enacted on July 30 of the same year through bipartisan agreement following the shortage of ballot papers in the June 3 local elections. The special counsel is led by Special Counsel Lee Tae-han, and the investigation targets 12 allegations, including the ballot shortage, manipulation of voting statistics, overseas junkets, unfair hiring and promotion favoritism, preferential private contracts, and collusion with companies.
Shortly after its launch, on September 17, the special counsel team conducted its first raids on nine locations, including the central NEC and the Gyeonggi, Incheon, Busan, and Daegu election commissions. Since then, it has conducted comprehensive investigations, including stationing forensic investigators at the central NEC.
Similar signs of favoritism in the warehouse contracts had already surfaced in August, before the special counsel's launch, during a probe by the Joint Investigation Headquarters, a task force of prosecutors and police. On August 14, the Joint Investigation Headquarters raided the National Election Commission, the Seoul and Gyeonggi election commissions, and bidding companies over allegations that work had been funneled to a specific company in contracts for election supply services, including pre-election ballot boxes.
The investigation at the time found that three companies involving a former political party division chief identified as A, as well as A's spouse and son, had signed a total of 103 contracts worth 17.5 billion won, of which 90 were sole-source contracts.
The Election Commission's contract irregularities are not new. On the 15th, at the National Assembly's Committee on Economy and Finance audit of the Public Procurement Service, Park Su-yeong, a member of the committee, demanded a comprehensive review, stating, "88.5% of the bidding contracts requested by the Election Commission from the Public Procurement Service were exclusive contracts." In particular, regarding the voting paper inspection counter, she raised suspicions that over a ten-year period, among 11 contracts, only one involved competition between two companies, suggesting that companies may have divided deliveries according to election type. In response, Baek Seung-bo, the head of the Public Procurement Service, said, "The suspicion of unfair practices appears to be very strong."
Reactions in political circles to the election commission special counsel's investigation have been divided. The People Power Party criticized the special counsel for failing to properly disclose the progress of its investigation. Supreme Council member Kim Min-su said at a Supreme Council meeting on October 12, 2026, "35 days have passed since the election commission special counsel was launched, but the public has essentially been given no information on the progress of the investigation," pointing out that "the insurrection special counsel held 25 briefings, the Kim Keon Hee special counsel held 34, and the Marine Corporal Chae Su-geun special counsel held 36, but the election commission special counsel has held only four." The Democratic Party of Korea, on the other hand, criticized the election commission's responsibility during a National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee audit and urged it to cooperate with the special counsel's investigation.
Under the special counsel law, the investigation period is capped at 150 days, which translates to early February of next year. However, there is talk of a possible extension if the investigation drags on. The number of prosecutors currently seconded to the special counsel team stands at around 17, below the statutory cap of 20, and the team is known to have requested an additional 10 investigators from the National Office of Investigation for Serious Crimes, though the negotiations have not gone smoothly. A special counsel team official said, "With full-scale investigations, including raids, now underway, we absolutely need more investigative personnel, but the delay in securing additional seconded staff has put us in a very difficult position."
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