South Korea's president orders probe into ballot shortage issue

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Sunday that he ​called for a thorough probe into a ‌ballot shortage that impacted recent local elections, adding that the prosecution and police would be involved in ​the investigation.

"As one citizen and as the ​president responsible for the government, I express ⁠deep regret," he said in an X ​post.

Local elections in the country last week were ​hit by a ballot shortage that prevented some eligible voters from casting their ballots.

The head of the National Election ​Commission, an independent body that ran the ​voting, resigned after the incident, but thousands of people ‌have been ⁠protesting outside a ballot counting site in Seoul to demand a re-run of local elections.

Lee said in his post that the incident was "difficult to ​comprehend" and ​that the ⁠subsequent response and explanations by the NEC to the public were ​insufficient.

He said that he had asked parliament ​to ⁠conduct a fact-finding probe and establish measures to prevent such an incident from happening again. He ⁠said ​he had also asked to ​discuss reform plans for the NEC.

- Reuters