Ex-chief of National Election Commission banned from leaving country amid ballot shortage probe

The Justice Ministry has approved a request from investigators to impose a travel ban on the former head of the National Election Commission (NEC) amid a probe into shortages of ballots during last week's local elections, sources said Friday.

The ministry took the measure against Roh Tae-ak, former chairperson of the NEC, as well as other key officials upon requests made by a team of investigators probing the case, according to judiciary sources.

The move came a day after investigators conducted a 13-hour raid that took place at the NEC's headquarters in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, and its local offices in the capital that experienced the ballot shortages.

They reportedly secured documents detailing plans on printing the ballots and budget, as well as meeting minutes.

Investigators plan to analyze the secured documents and further look into the decision-making process behind printing the ballots and communications that took place between polling stations and the NEC on the day of the June 3 local elections.

The shortages temporarily suspended voting at 26 polling stations nationwide, including mostly in Seoul's Songpa District, during the local elections, according to the NEC.

The incident prompted protesters to gather around a vote-counting facility in Songpa Ward to demand a rerun of the elections.

Yonhap