Former NEC chief approved his own overseas business trips with spouse, documents show as probe widens
Official records show Roh Tae-ak signed off on three overseas trips accompanied by his wife, as investigators examine possible misuse of public funds and broader NEC budget practices.
Former National Election Commission Chairperson Roh Tae-ak attends the third plenary session of the National Assembly's special committee investigating the ballot paper shortage during the ninth nationwide local elections and broader election management reforms on July 1.YONHAP
Former National Election Commission (NEC) Chairman Roh Tae-ak himself approved overseas business trips with his spouse, according to official documents reviewed on Monday.
Roh gave final approval for all three overseas trips on which his wife accompanied him, according to approval documents submitted by the NEC to Rep. Shin Dong-uk of the People Power Party (PPP), a member of the National Assembly's special committee investigating the shortage of ballot papers during the June 3 local elections.
The trips were to Australia and New Zealand in 2022, Germany and Estonia in 2024 and Denmark and Sweden in 2025.
The former NEC chief has recently come under scrutiny for taking all three business trips with his spouse. That Roh's spouse accompanied him on all three overseas trips was not disclosed in the NEC's publicly released post-trip reports.
Following such accusations, the oppositionPPPfiled a complaint against Roh with the joint police-prosecution investigation team on June 19 on suspicion of occupational embezzlement.
The approval documents list Roh's name as the final approver and note "accompanied by spouse" next to his name. They also include the total estimated cost of each trip, including expenses for Roh's wife. The budgets for each trip totaled about 64 million won ($42,800), 72 million won, and 90.5 million won, respectively.
Under regulations issued by the Ministry of Personnel Management, which the NEC applies internally, travel expenses for a public official's spouse may be covered only when the spouse is traveling to perform official duties. A common example is when an overseas host organizes an official program for spouses.
The National Election Commission headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on June 15NEWS1
However, Roh's wife was found to have attended only dinners hosted by Korean ambassadors during all three trips. Election authorities in Australia, Germany and the other host countries did not organize any official spouse programs.
"Even if there had been a spouse program, it would be difficult to regard the entire trip as official if it accounted for only a very small part of the itinerary," a senior prosecutor said.
Roh's wife took 10 flights across the three trips. Except for two flights during the Australia-New Zealand visit, all were in business class.
Her airfare totaled 7.82 million won for the 2022 trip, 9.54 million won for the 2024 trip and 13.11 million won for the 2025 trip. Airfare and accommodation for Roh's wife totaled 41.29 million won, excluding meal allowances and other travel expenses.
Appearing before the National Assembly committee on June 23, Roh said he had believed such arrangements were standard practice.
"This had always been the way things were done, and no one had ever raised any objections, so I never seriously questioned whether there could be a problem," Roh said.
National Election Commission Chairperson Roh Tae-ak bows before delivering a public apology over the ballot paper shortage during the June 3 local elections at the commission's headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on June 5.NEWS1
He added, "If any of the expenses were found to have been inappropriate, I will look into reimbursing them."
Rep. Shin criticized the NEC, saying, "The commission has become so dysfunctional that even its chair failed to recognize there was no legal basis for spending taxpayers' money this way. Reform through a criminal investigation is urgently needed."
A joint police-prosecution investigation team is investigating Roh on suspicion of occupational embezzlement. Investigators questioned the PPP, the complainant in the case, on July 2. The investigation has since expanded to examine the NEC's overall management of its budget and personnel.
Roh resigned early in June after ballot shortages disrupted voting at several southern Seoul polling stations during the June 3 local elections.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
