NIS chief denies fraud report

[Anchor]

Since the declaration of emergency martial law, President Yoon's side has consistently mentioned allegations of election fraud, claiming that there were related reports from the National Intelligence Service.

However, the words of National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong are different.

It is true that vulnerabilities were found in the security of the National Election Commission, but it has been confirmed that there was no report of election fraud, according to police statements.

Reporter Hwang Hyun-kyu has the details.

[Report]

A security inspection of the National Election Commission's computer network conducted in 2023 led by the National Intelligence Service.

The NIS hacked in to conduct the security inspection, but President Yoon Suk Yeol's side is raising allegations of election fraud, claiming that security vulnerabilities were revealed at that time.

[President Yoon Suk Yeol/Jan. 21: "Before declaring martial law, there were many issues that raised doubts about the fairness of the election..."]

During the fourth hearing of the impeachment trial, it was claimed that there was a report from the NIS stating that manipulating election results was entirely possible.

[Cho Dae-hyun/Representative of President Yoon/Jan. 23: "(The NEC's) security is extremely vulnerable, and the NIS reported that anyone could hack and manipulate the election results."]

However, NIS Director Cho Tae-yong stated during a police investigation shortly after the emergency martial law situation that, "I was not the director at the time of the inspection, so I do not know exactly," but added, "After inspecting over 400 IT devices of the NEC, there was no judgment that election fraud occurred."

He responded, "It is true that vulnerabilities to hacking were found during the NIS's inspection of the NEC last year, but there was no report to the president that this led to election fraud."

He also stated that there had been no reports or discussions with the president regarding allegations of election fraud from the 22nd general election until the declaration of emergency martial law.

Director Cho said he did not know why President Yoon was raising allegations of election fraud during the police investigation.

KBS News, Hwang Hyun-kyu.