Exclusive: Former NEC Chair Took Spouse on Every Official Overseas Trip Using Taxpayer Money, Kept It 'Private'

[Anchor]

It has been revealed that Noh Tae-ak, the former Chairperson of the National Election Commission (NEC) who resigned following a shortage of ballot papers, accompanied his wife on all three of his overseas business trips while in office. The costs for his wife's airfare and accommodation were covered by taxpayer money. However, the NEC omitted these facts from its publicly released reports.

Reporter Ko Jung-hyun has the story.

[Reporter]

This is a report published on the NEC website regarding an 8-night, 10-day overseas trip to Denmark and Sweden taken last November, seven months before the June 3 local elections, by then-Chairperson Noh Tae-ak and three staff members, totaling four people.

The purpose of the trip was to discuss the development of election systems.

However, in photos taken during a visit to the South Korean Embassy in Denmark and a dinner at the official residence, a woman is seen standing next to the then-Chairperson.

Who was she?

SBS obtained a confidential internal trip plan.

In the remarks column for the then-Chairperson in the list of travelers, it is noted as "spouse accompanying."

Although the report released to the public by the NEC stated there were four travelers, it has been confirmed that there were actually five, including the wife of the then-Chairperson.

We also checked the details of the trip's budget, which totaled 90.53 million won.

The business-class airfare was for two people, and the accommodation costs were settled for five people, not four.

What about the overseas trip in November 2024, when former Chairperson Noh Tae-ak visited Germany and Estonia?

That trip cost 71.9 million won, and it was also a "spouse accompanying" trip.

The NEC did not disclose this fact in the trip report released to the public at that time either.

It has been confirmed that former Chairperson Noh, who also served as a Supreme Court Justice, went on three overseas trips during his four-year tenure as NEC Chair, and his spouse accompanied him on all of them.

[Yang Bu-kyam / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Neglecting official election management duties while taking advantage of 'overseas agency exchanges' to go on trips with a spouse is a clear case of preferential treatment for leisure and a waste of precious taxpayer money.]

The Denmark-Sweden trip report records that the local officials met by the former Chairperson were mostly working-level staff, such as a director at the Copenhagen City Hall and a team leader at the Swedish Election Authority.

Critics point out that this does not align with the status of the fifth-highest-ranking official in the national order of protocol.

The schedule included only one or two events per day, and there were even days when the only activity was laying a wreath at a Korean War memorial.

Regarding the "spouse accompanying trips," the NEC stated, "It was necessary to consider the protocol befitting the status and role of a head of a constitutional institution, so the spouse's budget was included from the time of budget planning," adding, "We followed precedent, but we will operate in a way that meets public expectations in the future."

They explained that they did not record these facts in the publicly released reports because the spouse is not a public official.

SBS attempted to reach former Chairperson Noh for comment, but he could not be contacted.

(Video reporting: Kim Han-gyeol | Video editing: Shin Se-eun | Graphics: Choi Jin-hwe)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.