SEOUL — The special counsel team investigating allegations of electoral misconduct by the National Election Commission (NEC) is facing severe pressure and personal harassment from groups demanding a pre-determined conclusion of a "rigged election," sources said Sunday.

According to legal circles on October 19, relentless protests have been staged outside the NEC Special Counsel office in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

On October 16, protesters mobilized vans and trucks, displaying banners reading "Systemic rigged election that stripped citizens of voting rights on the June 3 local elections" and "Rigged election—re-election," while chanting slogans. Critics point out that the demonstrations have crossed the line from healthy criticism and oversight into personal harassment targeting specific members of the special counsel team.

Some protesters filmed staff members, shouting abusive remarks such as, "Are you running late because you were reporting to President Lee Jae-myung, you jerk?" and "Brief us too! You jerk."

Prosecutor Koo Seung-gi, a member of the special counsel team who was previously dispatched to the independent counsel team investigating insurrection cases, has been a particular target of malicious personal attacks. Protestors have targeted him allegedly because he dismissed "rigged election" claims during the trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

About two weeks ago, a YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "01:28 Koo Seung-gi Leaving Work," which showed him exiting the office late at night and boarding a taxi. In another video, a man climbed on top of a vehicle and shouted, "Seung-gi, come down and eat with us today."

Due to this relentless pressure, special counsel staff members reportedly take most of their meals by ordering delivery to the office.

"I heard that the team members cannot even eat properly," a senior prosecutor at a metropolitan prosecution office said. "With constant abusive noise ringing outside, how can anyone focus on their work?"

As personal threats against staff members continue, the NEC special counsel team is considering requesting police protection if necessary.

The NEC special counsel team, which launched in early September, is investigating 12 allegations of misconduct by the NEC over a maximum period of 150 days.

The scope of the investigation includes 12 suspicions, such as shortages of ballot papers, a reduction in the lower limit criteria for ballot printing volume (from 60% to 50%), false entry of voter counts, overseas junkets involving misuse of funds, and preferential treatment in private contracts.

Some factions argue that the NEC committed systematic irregularities that led to the "ballot shortage" and "false voter count" incidents, claiming that the June 3 local elections were rigged. However, voices within and outside the legal community caution that it is premature to jump to conclusions that such incidents stemmed from systematic misconduct by the NEC.

"Based solely on media reports so far, the possibility that false entries [of voter turnout] were carried out systematically does not appear overwhelmingly high," a current prosecutor diagnosed.

Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the ruling People Power Party, who chairs the special investigation committee on the June 3 ballot shortage, previously stated, "Based on the parliamentary investigation data and circumstances, no objective evidence has been confirmed to show intentional, planned, and systematic electoral fraud like the March 15 fraudulent election."

Another prosecutor noted, "While the public has the right and qualification to monitor the special counsel, fixing a conclusion in one direction and hurling personal abuse will only hinder the pursuit of truth."

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