Possibility of 'Hot-tongue Audit' for Business Leaders This Year... All Heads of the 4 Major Groups May Attend

Negotiations Underway for Witness Selection by Each Standing Committee Ahead of October National Audit

On the 1st, at the National Assembly plenary session, a motion demanding an audit on the progress of linkage between the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency and other criminal justice institutions' criminal justice information systems was passed. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] There is a possibility that a large number of CEOs and owners of companies will appear as witnesses at the National Assembly’s audit starting on the 4th of next month. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics and Chairman Chung Eui-sun of Hyundai Motor Group are expected to be summoned in relation to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Semiconductor Act. In particular, it has been identified that Im E-ja, a member of the Environment and Labor Committee from the People Power Party, has requested a total of more than 20 business leaders, including Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group and Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as witnesses for this year’s audit.

According to political circles on the 24th, each standing committee of the National Assembly has begun negotiations for witness selection by exchanging plans for witness attendance requests between the ruling and opposition parties ahead of the audit.

In this audit, there is expected to be a series of requests for business leaders to appear regarding the U.S. IRA and the U.S.-led semiconductor supply chain cooperation group (Chip 4). The heads of the four major conglomerates?Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Chairman Chey Tae-won, Chairman Chung Eui-sun, and Chairman Koo Kwang-mo of LG Group?are expected to receive attendance requests from both the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and the Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee.

Looking at each standing committee, the Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee, which decided on the attendance of institutional witnesses on the day, plans to negotiate additional requests for general witnesses and make a decision by the 26th. The agreement is mainly being reached between the ruling and opposition party secretaries. It is reported that among the general witnesses requested by members of the Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee, the number of businesspeople, including duplicates, is around 150.

Both ruling and opposition parties are reportedly considering requesting the attendance of business leaders such as Chairman Choi Jung-woo of POSCO Group in addition to the heads of the four major conglomerates. POSCO recently faced criticism for lax preemptive measures after its factory was flooded for the first time since its founding due to Typhoon Hinnamnor, causing disruptions in product production.

Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin of Shinsegae Group is also expected to be requested to appear as a witness. Although a decision was made to build the complex shopping mall 'Starfield' in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do has been competing to attract Starfield to the Suncheon Shindae District, sparking a competition to host Starfield within the Honam region.

According to the list of witness and reference witness applications for the Environment and Labor Committee, Im, the ruling party secretary of the committee, has applied for 26 business leaders. Representative figures include Chairman Chey Tae-won, Samsung Electronics CEO Kyung Kye-hyun, POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jung-woo, and GS Caltex CEO Heo Se-hong.

In particular, from SK Group, in addition to Chairman Chey, three affiliates?Cho Kyung-mok, CEO of SK Energy; Park Kyung-il, CEO of SK Ecoplant; and Na Kyung-soo, CEO of SK Geocentric?are included in the witness list. The main points of the articles are ▲positions on the Yellow Envelope Act ▲workplace-related issues regarding serious accidents ▲carbon neutrality implementation plans of the top 10 companies with the highest carbon emissions.

Recently, with Samsung Electronics’ declaration to participate in RE100 (100% renewable energy transition by 2050), interest in carbon neutrality has significantly increased in the National Assembly. Additionally, in the case of POSCO, given the occurrence of internal sexual harassment and a fatal accident at the Pohang Steelworks, measures related to these issues may be discussed during the audit.

Even considering this, it has been pointed out that it is practically impossible to conduct the audit by summoning nearly 30 business leaders.