SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Sunday that he called for a thorough probe into a ballot shortage that impacted recent local elections, adding that the prosecution and police would be involved in the investigation.
"As one citizen and as the president responsible for the government, I express deep regret," he said in an X post.
Local elections in the country last week were hit by a ballot shortage that prevented some eligible voters from casting their ballots.
The head of the National Election Commission, an independent body that ran the voting, resigned after the incident, but thousands of people have been protesting outside a ballot counting site in Seoul to demand a re-run of local elections.
Lee said in his post that the incident was "difficult to comprehend" and that the subsequent response and explanations by the NEC to the public were insufficient.
He said that he had asked parliament to conduct a fact-finding probe and establish measures to prevent such an incident from happening again. He said he had also asked to discuss reform plans for the NEC.