NEC Fails to Recover W23.6 Billion in Election Expenses from Law-Violating Candidates

The National Election Commission (NEC) has reportedly left approximately 23.6 billion won in election expenses uncollected from candidates who violated election laws. Some candidates have failed to pay the roughly 23.6 billion won even after receiving official orders to return the funds, which amounts to 86.5% of the total originally required for repayment.

There are 23 cases of long-term delinquency, with debts exceeding 11.29 billion won, where more than 10 years have passed since the election expense repayment order. The amount that has become irrecoverable due to the expiration of the statute of limitations—five years under the State Finance Act—alone stands at 3.574 billion won.

The NEC has been filing lawsuits since 2019 to extend the statute of limitations. It has been pointed out that recovery responsibilities are dispersed among multiple agencies, including the NEC and the National Tax Service, leading to unclear accountability. The NEC stated that amendment bills to the Public Official Election Act, which proposed extending the statute of limitations for debt recovery, have been introduced but never passed.