Ahead of the 9th nationwide local elections on June 3, post offices across the country will shift to an emergency work system.

The Postal Service under the Ministry of Science and ICT said on May 11 it will begin special handling for election mail from May 12 through election day on June 3, a 23-day period. Ahead of the election, the Postal Service completed all preparations, including securing staff and checking equipment and systems.

The Postal Service expects to handle a total of 32.8 million items of election mail for the local elections. That includes about 24.49 million items such as election booklets and voting notices, and about 2.61 million items of return mail for out-of-district early voting ballots.

The Postal Service, regional postal administrations and post offices nationwide will set up emergency response headquarters for special handling of election mail. The headquarters plan to build a cooperation system with related agencies including the National Election Commission, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the National Police Agency and local governments to process election mail quickly and accurately.

Election mail will be separated from and processed separately from regular mail. For return mail of out-of-district early voting ballots, dedicated staff will be designated and assigned at all stages before processing, and the handling process will be filmed and recorded through CCTV and other means. Security will be strengthened, including police escorts during delivery.

Postal Service chief Park In-hwan (박인환) said all employees will carry out their duties with a strong sense of responsibility. He said the agency will focus all administrative capacity so that the public can exercise its voting rights without disruption.