Audit Board Secretary-General Communicates via Text with Presidential Office Chief... "Clarifying Ignorant Remarks"

Yoon: "The Board of Audit and Inspection is an Independently Operated Institution"... Opposition Parties Launch Full-Scale Offensive Over Recent Remarks

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] A scene was captured where Yoo Byung-ho, Secretary General of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), sent a text message to Lee Gwan-seop, Senior Secretary for Policy Planning at the Presidential Office, regarding the West Sea government official shooting incident. The communication between the Secretary General of the BAI, an institution constitutionally guaranteed independence, and a senior official of the Presidential Office is expected to spark further controversy.

On the morning of the 5th, Secretary General Yoo attended a Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office and sent a text message to the recipient saved as "Lee Gwan-seop Senior Secretary" stating, "Today, a proper explanatory statement will be released again. The intention is to tell people not to talk nonsense."

"Lee Gwan-seop Senior Secretary" refers to Lee Gwan-seop, Senior Secretary for National Policy Planning at the Presidential Office. The BAI immediately issued a clarification, saying, "The text message from the Secretary General of the BAI was exposed to the media," and "The message was sent to inform that an explanatory statement would be released in response to inquiries about the article published today in some media outlets claiming 'the West Sea audit violated procedures.'"

However, recently, when President Yoon Suk-yeol was asked about the BAI’s request for a written investigation of former President Moon Jae-in regarding the West Sea incident, he stated, "The BAI is a constitutional institution and operates independently," adding, "It is not appropriate for the President to comment on this." Therefore, the communication between Secretary General Yoo and Senior Secretary Lee has become a subject of controversy.

The opposition party’s criticism is also spreading. Hyun Geun-taek, Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute of the Democratic Party, referenced President Yoon’s remark that "the BAI is a constitutional institution operating independently from the President," and posted, "Is it really an institution independent from the President?" Lawmaker Park Joo-min also said, "President Yoon Suk-yeol, who said it was inappropriate to comment because the BAI is an independent constitutional institution, aren’t you ashamed?" He added, "In front of the people, you act as if there is no communication with the BAI, but behind the scenes, you were having such close real-time communication. I am truly speechless."

Earlier, the BAI released a statement on the morning of the same day denying a media report titled "West Sea incident audit did not follow legal procedures," saying, "This is completely untrue." The claim that the audit committee’s approval must be obtained before starting the West Sea audit is false, and changes after approval are delegated to the Secretariat. The BAI added, "Reporting that the BAI audit may involve abuse of authority without understanding the BAI’s operational principles and the nature of public service inspection work is entirely false, so we ask for more careful reporting in the future."