NEC rejects BAI audit over nepotistic hires

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NEC rejects BAI audit over nepotistic hires

Rho Tae-ak, center, chairman of the National Election Commission (NEC), is surrounded by reporters after leaving a meeting of the NEC at the agency's headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, Friday. [NEWS1]

Rho Tae-ak, center, chairman of the National Election Commission (NEC), is surrounded by reporters after leaving a meeting of the NEC at the agency's headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, Friday. [NEWS1]

 
The National Election Commission (NEC) said Friday that it would not accept an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) over allegations of preferential treatment in the hiring of children of high-ranking officials.  
 
The NEC said in a statement that its members unanimously decided it will be difficult to accept a BAI audit after holding a meeting presided by Rho Tae-ak, chairman of the NEC, earlier that morning at the agency's headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi.  
 
Earlier this month, the NEC conducted an internal probe and issued several apologies over snowballing allegations that children of its high-ranking officials have been recruited to work for the election watchdog through possible nepotistic hiring practices.  
 
“Under constitutional practice, the NEC has not been subject to job-related audits due to the checks and balances between state agencies, and our members' opinion is that it is difficult to comply with such an inspection,” the NEC said in the statement.  
 
The NEC claimed that under Article 97 of the Constitution, the election agency is excluded from the scope of audits that can be conducted by the BAI. It also noted that Article 17 of the State Public Officials Act stipulates that an “inspection over the personnel affairs of public officials” should be conducted by the NEC secretary general, Constitutional Court secretary general or National Assembly secretary general.
 
Instead, the NEC said that it would actively participate in any investigations conducted by the National Assembly, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) and investigative authorities.
 
The BAI in turn said it would “sternly” deal with any attempts by the election watchdog to interfere with an audit, claiming that while the National Assembly and courts were excluded from its inspections, the NEC was not.
 
It said in a statement Friday that “any acts interfering with the BAI’s legitimate audit activities will be dealt with strenly, regardless of rank, in accordance with Article 51 of the Board of Audit and Inspection Act.”
 
The BAI noted, “The NEC is in charge of election-related management and execution tasks, which are basically administrative affairs, and as the NEC is an administrative agency related to elections, it is also subject to audits.”  
 
It added that thus far, it has refrained from auditing the NEC “in order to respect the independence of election management.”
 
Last week, NEC Secretary General Park Chan-jin and Deputy Secretary General Song Bong-seop tendered their resignations after allegations that their daughters had been unfairly hired to work at the NEC's regional offices, possibly violating ethics codes and abusing their authority.  
 
Rho in turn issued public apologies on Tuesday and Wednesday over the controversy and promised further investigations into possible nepotism in its current and former officials and overall reforms within the election commission.  
 
The ACRC said Thursday it would form an investigation team with seasoned experts solely dedicated to probing the preferential hiring allegations.  
 
The NEC also plans to request an investigation by the National Police Agency against the four high-ranking officials, including former Secretary General Park, who are suspecting of exerting their influence to get their children hired.  
 

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
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