Promotion of National Investigation and Review of Additional Prosecution Measures
Criticism of Public Investigation Without Audit Committee Resolution
Allegations of "Presidential Office Scenario" Political Audit
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The opposition party has strongly opposed the Board of Audit and Inspection's request for a prosecutorial investigation into 20 individuals related to the 'West Sea Civil Servant Killing Incident,' calling it a "shameless political audit." The party leadership and the Political Oppression Countermeasures Committee announced that they would respond with a parliamentary investigation and additional legal actions against the Board of Audit and Inspection.
Park Hong-geun, the floor leader, stated at the party's Supreme Council meeting on the 14th, "The Board of Audit and Inspection's surprise interim announcement is that of a novice auditor who cannot distinguish between intelligence and information," and he criticized, "If the Board of Audit and Inspection intends to request an investigation, they must present at least one piece of evidence proving that it was not a defection to the North."
The previous day, the Board of Audit and Inspection announced the interim audit results related to Lee Dae-jun, the civil servant killed in the West Sea incident, and requested a prosecutorial investigation into 20 individuals from five agencies at the time of the incident (the National Security Office, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Unification, National Intelligence Service, and Korea Coast Guard), including former National Security Office Director Seo Hoon, former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won, former Minister of National Defense Seo Wook, former Minister of Unification Lee In-young, and former Commissioner of the Korea Coast Guard Kim Hong-hee, on charges of dereliction of duty, abuse of authority, and falsification of official documents.
Floor leader Park criticized the Board of Audit and Inspection for publicly disclosing the investigation targets without the resolution of the Audit Committee, saying, "The prosecution and the Board of Audit and Inspection have performed with all their might according to the presidential office's scenario."
He then urged the Board of Audit and Inspection to "immediately stop this shameless political audit aimed at covering up the regime's incompetence" and vowed to respond with all possible legal measures.
On the same day, Supreme Council member Go Min-jung also questioned the process of the Board of Audit and Inspection's announcement. She explained, "Even during the 2010 Cheonan ship incident interim announcement, the Audit Committee's resolution was obtained before the announcement," adding, "Announcing matters that are not finalized constitutes the crime of disclosing suspect facts."
She further criticized, "Although this is a request for investigation regarding the West Sea civil servant killing incident, disclosing the investigation details and targets violates the principle of equal administration and self-binding legal theory, breaches the principle of trust protection, and constitutes an abuse of discretion," and asked, "On what grounds do they request an investigation without a resolution?"
The Democratic Party's Political Oppression Countermeasures Committee also held a press conference at the National Assembly, issuing a statement condemning, "We will no longer tolerate the Board of Audit and Inspection's political audit planned by President Yoon Seok-yeol's office and the constitutional violations."
The committee members said, "There has been no change in the facts as understood by the Republic of Korea government regarding the West Sea civil servant death incident, but the government's stance has changed 180 degrees with the change of administration," adding, "The Korea Coast Guard Commissioner, who was suddenly summoned to the Presidential Office's NSC (National Security Council), reversed the investigation results, and the next day, the Board of Audit and Inspection started the audit without the Audit Committee's resolution as if by prior agreement."
After the press conference, lawmaker Kim Young-bae specifically mentioned the minutes of a closed meeting of the National Defense Committee held on September 24, 2020, and repeatedly requested the release of the minutes from Lee Heon-seung, the National Defense Committee chairman from the People Power Party. He emphasized, "If the minutes are disclosed, many doubts will be resolved," and added, "Among the meeting contents, several senior officers affiliated with the People Power Party stated that there is no reason to doubt the judgment of defection to the North, and that our intelligence assets' Special Intelligence (SI) is reliable, so there is no reason for us to judge differently."
They announced plans to immediately push for a parliamentary investigation into the Board of Audit and Inspection's constitutional violations and violations of the Board of Audit and Inspection Act, and to take additional legal actions against illegal matters. They also revealed plans to hold a nationwide public forum on the 19th regarding reform measures for the Board of Audit and Inspection and to propose amendments to the Board of Audit and Inspection Act as party legislation.
On the same day, Democratic Party lawmakers from the Moon Jae-in administration's Blue House also issued a statement condemning the Board of Audit and Inspection. They criticized, "From beginning to end, the audit results are far from the truth and are political agitation," adding, "There is nothing new among the various facts detailed by the Board of Audit and Inspection; they are just the contents that the Moon administration disclosed to the National Assembly and the public at the time of the incident."
They stated, "The purpose of this audit is merely to 'push the narrative,'" and urged, "We hope that power agencies serving power rather than the people remember that they will inevitably face a fierce storm of reform."
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