40-something YouTuber Who Wanted to Monitor for Election Fraud in South Korea Jailed

2024-4-24, Tara O

A 40-something YouTuber concerned about election fraud installed CC cameras in 40 precincts in South Korea for the April 2024 general election. He, like many South Korean voters, wanted to monitor for election fraud. In this case, the 40-something man wanted to count the number of voters to see if that number matched the number of ballots announced by the National Election Commission. In recent years, many South Koreans have expressed concerns that election fraud is occurring and do not trust the National Election Commission and the election process.

For that, the Incheon police quickly arrested and jailed the man on March 23, 2024. The court also ordered his arrest and confinement on March 31, 2024.

Numerous election observers at various precincts during the early voting on April 5-6, 2024 have reported a discrepancy between the number of voters actually counted by the observers and the number of ballots displayed on the screen connected to the central server of the National Election Commission (NEC). The NEC’s counts were much higher than the number of voters that the election observers counted during early voting.

This discrepancy was also noted last year during a by-law election in Gangseo District of Seoul. On October 29, 2023, the now-jailed Youtuber uploaded a video and stated that the number of people at the early voting station and the number of early votes announced by the NEC did not match, and said he “requested the prosecutor’s office to investigate why this discrepancy occurred.” The prosecutor did not investigate the situation.

Many South Koreans have come forward, including former lawmaker Min Kyung-wook, lawyer Park Ju-hyun, and former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, demanding that the NEC be investigated. Groups such as Professors’ Solidarity of Freedom and Justice (JeongGyoMo) has called for an investigation too, but thus far, no investigations have occurred. President Yoon Seuk-yeol even said he’d investigate the 2020 election fraud situation after a public uproar, but it has not occurred.

The NEC so far has refused to take steps to make the election process more trustworthy for the public. It insisted on printing signature-equivalent seals of local precinct election managers, rather than the traditional method of the election manager stamping his/her own seal manually on the ballot each time. It is equivalent to printing signatures on ballots, defeating the purpose of each election supervisor verifying each ballot. Since their seals are in the computer memory, fake ballots can be printed en mass elsewhere and stuffed into the ballot boxes where election observers cannot present.

People also called for removing the machine to sort and count ballots, and for the NEC to count the ballots by hand, as they do in Taiwan, Germany, and elsewhere. The NIS already proved that the NEC server can be hacked to change the election outcome, and North Korea has cyber attacked the NEC network multiple times. But the NEC insisted on using the machine. It pretended to make adjustments by stating the ballots will be hand-counted, but then added that the ballots will be sorted by the machine. Whether counting or sorting, as long as the machine is used, hacking from internal or external sources cannot be ruled out.

Voters also wanted to eliminate early voting, as this is one of the major problems. The early voting occurs for 2 days and there are 4 to 5 days between the early voting and counting, and the ballots get removed from the voting locations. There are numerous vulnerabilities during this time for legitimate ballots to be destroyed and/or fake ballots to be inserted. Yet the NEC did not even respond to the call to get rid of early voting and the extended time between early voting and counting.

In the most recent election (in April 2024), shredded ballots were found on the election day of April 10, 2024. The below photo is from trash bags in front of the National Election Commission’s office in the Nam District of Daegu City.

Shredded ballots, Nam District, Daegu, 2024-4-10, posted by lawyer Park Ju-hyun

Shredded ballots were also found in 2020. Additionally, around 2. a.m. on April 7, 2024 (after the 2-day early voting was completed), several people were filmed stuffing ballots for hours into existing ballot boxes in the storage. The ballot boxes were supposed to be sealed with security tapes and then signed, so to stuff the ballot boxes, they also would have had to remove the security seal, and seal it back afterwards. Their activity was captured on video, which went viral on social media. In less than a day, the video was gone and the YouTube channel itself was completely terminated. It indicated a quick action probably by the NEC, which has a track record of aggressively suppressing social media content.

The YouTube channel that posted the video of people stuffing ballots on 2024-4-7, around 2 a.m. is shown as terminated below:

But not before some frames were captured (below), Unpyeong District, Seoul, early vote ballot boxes storage area, 2024-4-7, around 2 a.m:

The public comments about the jailing of the YouTuber are below (samples):

This is a clear example of how much people distrust early voting. It is so terrible that he had to install cameras!! The National Election Commission and the Ministry of Interior and Safety should establish and implement concrete and practical measures to dispel the people’s distrust of the early vote rigging!!
It is not a crime, rather he’s a patriot who practiced electoral justice that the state failed to do.
What’s wrong with installing CC cameras? Vote/count like they do in Taiwan.
Why don’t the numbers of (NEC announced) ballots match the number of actual voters? They only need to make it possible for anyone to count the actual voters, so what is the NEC afraid of???? (CC camera installation) is to count the number of actual voters. Early voting has too may weaknesses and the process is not transparent, so it must be abolished.
(Today’s Lesson) What can one do to easily rig elections?
- Announce the number of early votes that are higher than actual voters.
- Place the printed ballots that match the inflated number in the early vote ballot boxes.
- It’s possible because:
- The seal for the early vote ballots, unlike the day of ballots, is printed.
- There is no CC camera installed to show the actual number of voters
- The boxes that contain early vote ballots are not sealed properly and not monitored properly.
If you (NEC) are honorable, then install a lot of cameras and record everything.
The media should honestly dig into why he put up cameras. A citizen had to step up, because the National Election Commission is full of problems. The arrest should be done to the NEC, and the YouTuber should be given a patriotic medal. Really, everyone knows that early voting is for ballot stuffing, so why is he arrested? Is this (really happening in) this country?
There’s so much distrust of early voting. The National Election Commission and the government should see the errors of their ways.
This time, I heard that anyone can access and view the CC camera videos of the 24-hour early voted ballots storage facility. Is it true?? The last time in 2020, (the NEC) covered the CC cameras with tape, didn’t they?
NEC is the most suspicious.
He’s a righteous man, and he spends his own money and time to catch the fraudulent election. (The government) does not help him, but (jails him), tut tut.
(The NEC) is afraid of getting caught, so it describes (the Youtuber installing CC cameras) as illegal.
The cameras are for monitoring election fraud. Not illegal cameras.
The problem is with the NEC. Let the man go.
The individual did what the National Election Commission or the government should have done. Why jail him? If the current government wants to hold elections, do it right, lest people become suspicious.
Isn’t (NEC) implying it will rig votes? Install the cameras (at voting stations) all over the country!
That’s crazy (to arrest the man). Get rid of early voting.
So don’t do fraudulent ballots ….. with China!!
A citizen that monitors the NEC. The NEC that needs monitoring is so embarrassing.
Does it make sense that the National Election Commission is the only one that knows the early vote numbers and no one else knows? Why are the CC cameras covered during the elections? Inflate the number of votes, wait 4-5 days in storage, and stuff the ballots—who would know? The NEC, which does not follow the election law that requires the personal stamp of the election managers on the early vote ballots, and substitute it by printing, is also a real problem. Therefore, it can be viewed that the National Election Commission is promoting election fraud.
Thoroughly investigate election fraud and get rid of early voting.
“CC TV is made public 24 hours a day, but only during business hours”….. we can’t trust you, NEC, because you use words to confuse.
The NEC should be transparent. (The NEC) covered CC cameras with newspapers, print the ballot box custodians’ seal (rather than manually stamping), (remove and them) re attach the security seal on the ballot boxes, etc. NEC conducts illegal acts, but is not punished. Let’s think about why only the citizens are treated unjustly.
He installed the cameras because the (NEC) ballot count is 200-300 more than the actual voters.
Election fraud should be investigated. The citizens must no longer be sacrificed.
He’s a national hero!
So abolish early voting.
Shouldn’t the NEC be the one to be jailed? Who’s the real thief?
They don’t catch the ones plotting election fraud, but on the contrary, catch a citizen who monitors the fraudulent elections. Release him.
It’s ridiculous that the media is reporting it this way (as if he committed a grave crime). The NEC lost so much credibility that such a thing is happening. Focus on reporting properly on the problematic NEC.
People who should be jailed are elsewhere. Some run to be lawmakers…what a farce
What? An individual citizen stepped up to do what the NEC doesn’t do. Why is this a crime? How not transparent (is the election process for this to happen)…
If Yoon Suk-yeol and Han Dong-hoon had immediately investigated the election fraud, good citizens would not have been harmed. Yoon Suk-yeol and Han Dong-hoon, who can’t protect such citizens are even more disgusting and shameful.
President Yoon and the People Power Party representatives.. Investigate allegations of election fraud.. The citizens are crying.. Earn your salary.. Why aren’t you doing anything?