Statement on fairness in the inaugural nationwide elections for Heads of Cooperatives 

The National Election Commission (NEC), the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) released a joint statement to the nation at the Mapo Art Center on January 29, around 40 days before the first nationwide elections for Heads of Cooperatives. In the statement, they asked for people’s active participation in the voting and emphasized the importance of fair and clean elections.

Among the participants were the Secretary General of the NEC Mr. Kim Yong-hi, Minister of MAFRA Lee Dong-pil and the Head of the Korean Forest Service Mr Jung Yung-hun. They were also joined by Mr. Jung Yung-hun, a Senior Officer at MOF, Mr. Choi Won-byung, the Chairperson of the Agriculture Cooperative, Mr. Lee Jong-gu, the Chairperson of the Fisheries Cooperative, and Mr. Lee Suk-hyung, the Chairperson of the Forest Cooperative.

Secretary General Kim Yong-Hi delivered the joint announcement and Minister Lee Dong-pil said a few words about fair elections on behalf of the government.

The Secretary General mentioned that the elections for Heads of Cooperatives are equivalent to those for public officials because how these organizations are run has a significant impact on  the local economy and the people’s daily lives. In this regard, he requested that voters closely examine candidates’ election promises and pledges before casting their votes, adding that it is both a right and an obligation for the member of the cooperatives to have an interest and participate in the upcoming elections.

In addition, he promised the NEC would dedicate itself to both eradicating ‘election bribery’ to meet the needs of the times and people’s aspirations, and managing the elections on the basis of strict neutrality and fairness, which will lead to a new era of clean and fair election. He also asked candidates, members of the cooperatives, and the general public to have a strong interest in the election and to cooperate with the NEC for the mutual development of the members and cooperatives.

The MAFRA Minister asked the ‘Fair Election Supporters’, the group monitoring the elections, to commit themselves to marking the first year of fair elections for cooperatives’ heads by rooting out conventional irrationalities and irregularities, which would be a stepping stone for agriculture communities to go forward with new hope.

Along with today’s announcement, ‘Fair Election Supporters’, consisting of around 1800 members from 244 regional election commissions across the nation, held a launch ceremony to gear up for a crack-down on ‘election bribery.’

As holidays such as Lunar New Year’s Day and the First Full Moon of the year are approaching at the same time as Election Day, the election authority is planning to reinforce its watch-dog activities. It will deploy, when necessary, up to 2,000 investigative staff in addition to the support group already on the ground. This means that there may be up to 4,700 staff, including public officials from the NEC, monitoring for any violations of election law.