Hwaseong:A National Election Commission (NEC) official, who was discovered deceased outside his apartment in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, left behind a note that did not indicate any coercion from special counsel investigators, According to investigation team on Friday. The official had been questioned by the special counsel a day prior to his death.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the deceased official, in his 40s, had expressed grievances in the suicide note over the questioning process he faced. However, the note did not mention any coercive methods employed by the investigators. Instead, it noted organizational issues within the NEC without expressing any personal grudge against the special counsel.

The official's lawyer had earlier accused the investigators of applying pressure and coercive techniques and highlighted procedural flaws in documenting the interrogation. However, the special counsel team, led by Lee Tae-han, confirmed that their review of the note found no evidence of coercion and was conducted through proper procedures.

The special counsel team was established on September 7 to investigate allegations of misconduct within the NEC, including issues related to ballot shortages and possible manipulation of voter turnout data during the June local elections. In a related development, Lee visited the Serious Crime Investigation Agency (SCIA) to request additional personnel, citing that his team is significantly understaffed. He plans to request the assignment of ten more investigators to handle the broad scope of the investigation.

Lee mentioned that a considerable amount of time is being devoted to preliminary investigative work, with the forensic analysis of the NEC's election management system servers ongoing for over a month. Despite resource constraints at the SCIA, Lee underscored the need to uncover the facts surrounding the NEC allegations within a limited timeframe.