Moon Sang-boo Inaugurated as National Election Commission Vice Chairperson 

Moon Sang-boo was inaugurated National Election Commission Vice Chairperson (Standing Commissioner) on December 14, succeeding Lee Jong-woo after being unanimously elected from within the Commission. 

Vice Chairperson Moon has been working in public life for 30 years where he has been engaged in election-related work as an elections expert in the NEC. He worked in numerous positions including Director of the Election Division, Chief of the Investigation Department, Chief of the Election Department, Chief Planning and Coordination Officer, Deputy Secretary General and Secretary General.

The NEC is composed of nine members: three members are appointed by the President, three are elected by the National Assembly and three are nominated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Vice Chairperson of the NEC

Name: Moon Sang-boo

Education and Experience:

○ Graduated with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Sungkyungkwan University.

○ November 1998: Director of the Management Division, Gyeongsang-do Election Commission

○ November 1999: Director of the Inspection Division, Daegu Metropolitan City Election Commission

○ April 2002: Director of the Investigation Division, National Election Commission

○ January 2003: Director of the Audit and Inspection Division, National Election Commission   

○ January 2004: Director of the Election Division, National Election Commission

○ January 2006: Director General of the Investigation Department, National Election Commission

○ January 2007: Director General of the Election Department, National Election Commission

○ December 2007: Oversees Training at Stony Brook University, USA

○ January 2009: Chief of the Election Department, National Election Commission

○ December 2010: Deputy Secretary General of the National Election Commission

○ November 2012 – November 2014: Secretary General of the National Election Commission

○ March 2015 – Present: Visiting Professor, Semyung University, Republic of Korea

Awards and Family:

○ Awards:  Order of Service merit, Red Stripes in 2004

            Order of Service merit, Blue Stripes in 2015

○ Family: Married to Park Soon-ran with two children

Other Information:

❍ In his various positions within the National Election Commission (NEC), Vice Chairperson Moon has been well known for his strong planning and judgment and his strong commitment to elections and eradicating fraud.

❍ While serving as the Director General of the Investigation Department, he worked to promote institutional improvements to eliminate election fraud, and in the position of Deputy Secretary General he greatly contributed to the change of election culture in Korea through such policies as professionalizing the staff structure and focusing on enforcing against serious election offenses.

❍While serving as Secretary General, he oversaw increased freedom of political expression for voters through the abolishment of laws and regulations, and the introduction of early voting, which increased the convenience of voting during the 2013 local elections. In addition, he made an effort to enact Private Election Act to institutionalize private elections conducted in our daily lives, and streamlined to simultaneously hold elections for heads of many kinds of cooperatives.  

❍ In terms of external relations, in order to spread Korea’s advanced election management techniques and experience to countries from around the world, he led the NEC in planning an active role in establishing the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB).

❍He is gentle in appearance but strong in spirit. Particularly, he is known for drawing a clear line between official and private matters. He also made an emphasis on communication within the organization by organizing an event where all staff members came together to socialize. Also he enjoys Marathon running and has run several full marathons.