South Korea’s declaration of martial law and the deployment troops to the National Election Commission (NEC) have sparked intense controversy, raising questions about the legitimacy of using military force to address unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud.
On Dec. 5, NEC disclosed that approximately 300 troops were dispatched to its main office in Gwacheon, the Civic Korean Education Institute for Democracy in Suwon, and its branch office in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, immediately after President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law. The NEC was the only government agency, apart from the National Assembly, to see such deployment of military personnel during this state of emergency.
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun stated in a media release that the deployment of troops to the NEC was intended to assess whether investigations into suspected election fraud were necessary. However, the NEC clarified that no data was compromised or leaked during the incident.
NEC Secretary-General Kim Yong-bin presented a detailed timeline during a National Assembly hearing to support these statements. According to Kim, the president declared martial law at 10:24 PM on Dec. 3, and six minutes later, at 10:30 PM, about 10 troops entered the NEC headquarters. By 12:30 AM on Dec. 4, an additional 100 troops had joined them.
The troops reportedly seized mobile phones in use by five on-site NEC staff and monitored their movements while restricting entry and exit. Around the same time, approximately 100 police officers were also dispatched to the NEC headquarters. S. Korea’s Police Commissioner-General Cho Ji-ho stated that police personnel were deployed to the NEC after receiving a call from the military counterintelligence commander.
Additional troops were deployed to other NEC facilities: roughly 130 to the Korean Civic Education Institute for Democracy in Suwon and about 50 to the Gwanak office in Seoul. However, these troops reportedly did not enter the buildings. In total, the NEC was guarded by 300 military personnel—more than the 280 stationed at the National Assembly.
Secretary-General Kim stated, “We are unclear on why the troops were sent to NEC facilities. The NEC does not fall under the purview of martial law, and there is no reason for our operations to be suspended or transferred under such circumstances.”
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun defended the decision, explaining, “Due to widespread public concerns about alleged election fraud, we believed it was necessary to secure systems and facilities to decide whether an investigation was needed. However, the troops were withdrawn after the National Assembly voted to end martial law.”
The deployment comes amid ongoing accusations of election fraud by right-wing groups and YouTubers concerning the April 10 general elections. Some have urged investigations into the NEC’s operations to resolve the issue.
The troops reportedly entered the office responsible for managing information systems at NEC headquarters, which oversees servers containing personal and election-related data. Despite this, Secretary-General Kim confirmed no data was removed. “We thoroughly checked our systems and found no signs of tampering or loss,” he said.
The opposition Democratic Party criticized the actions, questioning the legitimacy of using martial law to address unsubstantiated claims. A party spokesperson argued that imposing martial law based on the allegations of YouTubers posed a serious challenge to constitutional order and amounted to a reckless act that endangered national stability.
