The National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. /Courtesy of News1

The National Election Commission canceled the appointment of eight individuals, including the children of senior officials involved in alleged preferential hiring.

On the 30th, the National Election Commission issued a press release and explained, “In the process of hiring local government officials as regional election commission officials, an allegation of preferential treatment was raised regarding the children of senior officials, and after going through a hearing process, the appointments were canceled.” It added that for the other two individuals whose appointment cancellation procedures are ongoing, “a decision will be made later according to the results of the investigation.”

The National Election Commission noted that disciplinary actions against 16 employees identified by the Board of Audit and Inspection for improperly handling their duties during the preferential hiring process have also been completed.

Previously, the National Election Commission referred a total of 19 individuals for investigation, including eight senior officials involved in the preferential hiring scandal, such as former Secretary-General Park Chan-jin and former Deputy Secretary Song Bong-seop, as well as eleven individuals related to the preferential treatment allegations, on suspicion of violating the National Public Service Act.