The head of South Korea's National Election Commission (NEC) has offered to resign following an unprecedented shortage of ballot papers that disrupted local elections in Seoul, triggering sustained protests and demands for the vote to be rerun. NEC Chairperson Roh Tae-ak bowed in apology at a press briefing on Friday, saying he felt "deeply responsible" for undermining public trust in the country's electoral process. NEC Secretary General Heo Cheol-hoon also offered his resignation. The presidential office said it "takes seriously" both resignations and called for a thorough review of election management procedures to restore public confidence.

The disruptions occurred during Wednesday's local elections, when more than a dozen polling stations in Seoul — particularly in the southeastern wards of Songpa and Gangnam — ran out of ballot papers, forcing temporary voting suspensions. Some voters reportedly left without casting their ballots after long waits. The NEC said the shortage stemmed from a failure to anticipate voter turnout. Several stations were kept open until 10 p.m. to compensate, but the measure did little to contain the public backlash.

Anger quickly spilled into the streets. A crowd that began as several dozen protesters on election night grew to more than 1,000 by Thursday, blockading a polling station in Jamsil, in Seoul's Songpa Ward, and preventing officials from removing ballot boxes for counting. Staff were effectively trapped inside the station for roughly 35 hours. Riot police intervened Friday morning, physically removing demonstrators to allow the boxes — containing around 2,000 ballots — to be transported to a counting facility. The protests continued into a second day on Saturday, with approximately 2,000 people surrounding the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa, where the ballot boxes had been moved, blocking officials from leaving the site.

The elections were the first nationwide vote since President Lee Jae-myung took office following the removal of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is currently jailed and on trial for insurrection after a short-lived martial law declaration late last year. Lee's ruling Democratic Party swept most races but failed to win the Seoul mayoral seat. Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) leader Jang Dong-hyeok, whose party suffered heavy losses, visited the NEC and called for the election to be rerun. President Lee ordered an investigation into the ballot shortage, condemning what he called "a flaw that is difficult to accept."

The incident has deepened a pre-existing crisis of confidence in the NEC. Analysts note that Yoon, during his martial law episode, had accused the commission of ignoring warnings about election security threats, claims that fuelled unverified fraud theories among right-wing supporters. "There was already a degree of public distrust toward the election commission, and this has only poured fuel on the fire," said Lee Jae-mook, a political science professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. The NEC has announced plans to establish an independent expert committee to determine the exact cause of the shortage and propose preventive measures, and Roh pledged full cooperation with any parliamentary investigation.