South Korean President Lee Jae Myung comments on last week’s election mishap.Image: keystone
June 8, 2026, 8:51 a.mJune 8, 2026, 8:51 a.m
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sharply criticized the organizational shortcomings surrounding the regional and local elections held last Wednesday. «That was absurd. Even for people in less developed democracies, it would be hard to imagine that citizens cannot vote because there are no ballot papers,” Lee said during a press conference marking his first year in office in Seoul.
During last week’s regional elections, a total of 50 polling stations temporarily ran out of ballot papers – voting operations had to be temporarily interrupted in 22 as a result.
Demonstrators are calling for new elections
There have been protests in the capital Seoul over the election scandal for five days in a row. Several thousand demonstrators are calling for new elections and see their democratic rights violated by the lack of ballot papers. Some of them also claim that the regional and local elections may have been rigged. Most of the protesters are young people in their 20s and 30s.
Outraged by the lack of ballot papers, South Koreans are demonstrating on the streets of Seoul.Image: keystone
On Monday, at the direction of President Lee, the authorities began a large-scale investigation, particularly targeting the National Election Commission. However, the 62-year-old Lee emphasized during his press conference that the incident was not evidence of electoral fraud.
The left-wing ruling party (DP) achieved a landslide victory in the elections and won the most votes in 12 out of 16 regions. The conservative opposition party PPP, however, performed poorly in the elections. (nil/sda/dpa)