Ruling party calls for NEC's reform

[Anchor]

Despite the National Election Commission's public apology, the People Power Party has announced that public distrust has already grown and that it has lost its ability for self-correction, signaling a full reform of the commission.

The Democratic Party also stated that it would prepare measures at the National Assembly level and called for the commission's self-correction efforts.

This is Lee Yoon-woo reporting.

[Report]

The People Power Party, which has vowed to take action against the corrupt election commission, has presented five key tasks for reforming the commission.

They plan to propose a special auditor law to strengthen monitoring and checks on the commission, introduce personnel hearings for the commission's secretary-general, and implement national audits of local election commissions, as well as push for a ban on judges concurrently serving as commission chairs.

[Kwon Seong-dong/Floor Leader of the People Power Party: "(The election commission) is in a situation where we cannot trust any opinions it presents. Therefore, a surgical operation by a third party is necessary...."]

Within the party, a bill has also been proposed to increase in-person voting instead of early voting, stating, "We cannot trust early voting due to institutional flaws and mismanagement."

The Democratic Party, which had not actively responded until now, has also demanded that the election commission make efforts that are "painstaking" after it issued a public apology.

While they agree on the need for National Assembly-level measures to monitor and check the election commission, there is a prevailing sentiment against the ruling party's push for a special auditor.

[Ahn Gyu-baek/Democratic Party Member/KBS1 Radio 'Current Affairs': "If necessary, we can do it, but I think it's the same as drawing a sword at a mosquito or a knife. It seems there was corruption, but I believe that can be improved institutionally."]

The People Power Party has demanded that the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee conduct inquiries into the election commission, but the Democratic Party rejected this, stating that it can be sufficiently addressed during the personnel hearings for the commission members.

The People Power Party criticized the Democratic Party, claiming their response shows they are protecting a corrupt election commission.

This is KBS News, Lee Yoon-woo reporting.