South Korean President Orders Military Inspection of Election Systems—Could Democracy Be in Danger?

On Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol raised serious concerns about the integrity of South Korea’s electronic election systems, calling them “the cornerstone of democracy” yet deeply flawed. “How can citizens trust election results under such conditions?” he asked. He also revealed that he had instructed the Defense Minister to inspect the National Election Commission’s computer systems.

In a morning address titled A Message to the Nation, Yoon revealed the rationale behind the December 3 emergency martial law measures, citing issues with the National Election Commission’s systems.

Yoon disclosed that North Korean hackers had targeted the National Election Commission last year. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) discovered this breach and sought to assess potential data leaks and system stability. However, the Commission staunchly refused NIS assistance, citing its status as a constitutional body. It only agreed to NIS scrutiny after a major recruitment scandal led to audits and investigations.

Yoon reported that the Commission allowed inspection of only a minuscule portion of its system infrastructure and refused cooperation on the rest. He emphasized, “Despite the limited inspection, the situation was alarming. Acting as hackers, NIS personnel found data manipulation entirely feasible, with virtually non-existent firewalls.”

He highlighted further weaknesses, noting that passwords were absurdly simple, as basic as “12345,” and that a small, inexperienced firm managed the system’s security. He said that even after witnessing the NIS security inspection, the Commission merely repeated denials of data manipulation.

Yoon explained, “As a constitutional body with judicial officials as commissioners, the Election Commission is virtually immune to search warrants or forced investigations. Without their voluntary cooperation, uncovering the truth is impossible.” He continued, “I demanded improvements on problematic areas before the April general elections but couldn’t verify if they were implemented. This led to my order for the Defense Minister to inspect their systems.”

Yoon also linked his actions to broader political tensions. He accused the main opposition Democratic Party of trying to block investigations into their alleged corruption by threatening to impeach prosecutors and the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection. “I felt compelled to act. It was clear they would soon target the judiciary for impeachment. I believed something had to be done, which led me to consider declaring martial law,” he said.