People Power Party Focuses on 5-Year Evaluation of Moon Jae-in Administration
Democratic Party Targets Controversies of Yoon Seok-yeol Government
Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is giving a greeting at the plaque ceremony of the Comprehensive Situation Room for the National Assembly audit on the 27th at the National Assembly. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
[Asia Economy Reporters Kum Boryeong and Park Juni] The ruling and opposition parties have entered full-scale preparations for the upcoming National Assembly audit starting on the 4th of next month. The People Power Party (PPP) is focusing on pointing out the problems during the five years of the Moon Jae-in administration, while the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is set to sharply target various controversies that have arisen since the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.
On the 27th, the PPP held a 'Pre-Audit Inspection Meeting' at the National Assembly, chaired by floor leader Joo Ho-young. At the meeting, Leader Joo stated, "Looking back over the past five years, democracy and the rule of law were severely threatened, and there was no area?diplomacy, security, or economy?that was not unstable." He criticized, "To block investigations into power-related corruption, the 'complete prosecution reform' was forcibly pushed through at the end of the term; there were submissive diplomacy toward North Korea and alliance breakdowns, income-led growth and hasty nuclear phase-out policies, various corruption suspicions surrounding solar power, media control, and last-minute personnel appointments that are too numerous to list." He added, "I hope all members approach the audit with the determination to clearly organize and address the accumulated evils and the damage done to the country."
The PPP also decided to operate a '2022 Audit Tip-off Center' on the party's website to allow transparent public participation, and immediately after the meeting, they unveiled a comprehensive audit situation room sign.
Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 27th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
The Democratic Party intensified pressure on the government ahead of the audit period. At the party's floor strategy meeting that day, the leadership collectively criticized the government's next year's budget proposal, the amendment to the Grain Management Act that the DPK is pushing through, and the high exchange rate situation. In his closing remarks at the open meeting, DPK floor leader Park Hong-geun pointed out the ruling party's allegation of collusion between the DPK and MBC in response to the president's profanity controversy, calling it "shameless and disgustingly raw," and emphasized, "We will definitely hold them legally accountable for defamation through false information, distortion of facts, and misleading the public."
They also launched a full-scale offensive against the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. Centering on diplomatic blunders such as the president's profanity controversy during his overseas trip, they pressured for the dismissal of the foreign affairs and security line. At the floor strategy meeting, Leader Park said, "After today's party members' meeting, we plan to propose a motion to dismiss Foreign Minister Park Jin," adding, "This is to hold the minister responsible as the head of the relevant ministry for the worst-ever disastrous overseas trip marked by rashness, incompetence, humiliation, empty-handedness, and offensive remarks." The DPK plans to hold a party members' meeting in the afternoon to approve the dismissal motion and then submit it to the National Assembly's legislative affairs office.
The ruling and opposition parties are fiercely clashing over the adoption of witnesses for the audit. The PPP is demanding witnesses related to DPK leader Lee Jae-myung and suspicions involving the Moon Jae-in administration, while the DPK is requesting witnesses related to President Yoon Seok-yeol and his spouse. Both parties are also eager to call business leaders as witnesses. The Public Administration and Security Committee has adopted witnesses including Choi Jung-woo, chairman of POSCO Group, and Kim Jae-hyun, CEO of Danggeun Market. Initially, both parties requested the attendance of witnesses such as Kona I, a local currency operator in Gyeonggi Province, but reportedly failed to reach an agreement.
The Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee also planned to adopt audit witnesses at its plenary meeting that day but failed to reach an agreement. It is reported that both parties requested witnesses including Gautam Anand, Vice President of Google YouTube Asia-Pacific, and Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver. The Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee confirmed witnesses such as Lee Jae-seung, president of Samsung Electronics; Gong Young-woon, president of Hyundai Motor; and Kim Beom-jun, CEO of Woowa Brothers.
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