[2023 National Audit] Battle for General Election Leadership... Ruling and Opposition Parties Clash Across Standing Committees for Second Day

Opposition Questions Han Dong-hoon Justice Minister Appointment Verification Failure
Ruling Party's Park Beom-gye Former Justice Minister Travel Expense Attack
Education Committee Temporarily Disrupted Over Kim Geon-hee First Lady's Thesis Plagiarism

On the 11th, the second day of the final National Assembly audit of the 21st National Assembly, the ruling and opposition parties continued their fierce battle of nerves. The Democratic Party of Korea, emphasizing the failures of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, and the People Power Party, countering by criticizing the major opposition party's mistakes, clashed in various standing committees. As this is the last audit before next year's general election, the focus seems to be more on the power struggle over the election rather than the audit of the agencies under review.

During the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Ministry of Justice, the ruling and opposition parties exchanged attacks over the previous and current administrations. The Democratic Party launched a relentless offensive, pointing out the 'personnel failures of the Yoon Seok-yeol government,' claiming that the Ministry of Justice's Personnel Information Management Unit underperformed in screening, leading to the recommendation of unqualified ministerial candidates. They also urged the submission of materials related to the Personnel Information Management Unit.

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is reporting on his duties at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit held at the National Assembly on the 11th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Democratic Party lawmaker Song Ki-heon said, "It seems that the personnel screening of key public officials by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration is a major problem," while lawmaker Kim Eui-gyeom pointed out, "The suspicions surrounding ministerial candidates who recently underwent confirmation hearings have become a significant issue. Personnel screening falls under Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon's jurisdiction, but no materials have been submitted." Lawmaker Kim Young-bae also criticized, "Although the government's Personnel Information Management Unit has been launched, the National Assembly does not have any information. They are not properly reporting the scope of personnel information collection for candidate screening, the method of deriving results, how the screening was conducted, or the performance."

On the other hand, People Power Party lawmakers sharpened their criticism by pointing out overseas travel expenses of opposition figures. Lawmaker Jo Soo-jin of the People Power Party said, "Former Minister Park Beom-gye reportedly spent about 69 million won on a recent trip to Germany," adding, "Among that, about 5 million won was spent on interpretation fees for two days at a German event. Please submit materials to verify whether this was actually spent." Lawmaker Jeon Ju-hye also pointed out unpaid fines by former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

During the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's audit, the effectiveness of the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement during the Moon Jae-in administration was debated. The People Power Party argued for the legitimacy of suspending the military agreement's effectiveness, while the Democratic Party countered that it could provide North Korea with another pretext.

The September 19 military agreement is an annex to the Pyongyang Joint Declaration signed on September 19, 2018, by then-President Moon Jae-in and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Its main point is the complete cessation of all hostile acts to prevent armed conflicts in all areas including land, sea, and air. People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo evaluated, "By offsetting surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities on their own, it seriously undermined military readiness against North Korea and jeopardized military stability," whereas Democratic Party lawmaker Park Byeong-seok countered, "The September 19 agreement is a firewall to prevent accidental clashes due to misjudgments between the two Koreas."

In the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee and Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee audits, a partisan dispute arose over the issue of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.

Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Won-shik questioned Environment Minister Han Hwa-jin about her remarks on a broadcast stating, "As a scholar, the impact of contaminated water discharge on our waters is minimal," in relation to a report from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Recently, allegations surfaced that the KDCA concealed research results calling for a nationwide long-term follow-up study on contaminated water. The KDCA explained that it had "reviewed literature and proposed fundamental methodologies as a preliminary investigation." When lawmaker Woo asked Minister Han whether the KDCA's research results were "rumors or science," she explained, "It was not an investigation or analysis of the scientific safety regarding the risk of contaminated water."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A heated argument broke out between lawmaker Woo and Minister Han over the issue of diluting contaminated water, causing a temporary disturbance in the chamber. Later, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-jin again asked about the dilution of contaminated water, "Is it acceptable to dilute and discharge contaminated water from the accident nuclear power plant?" Minister Han replied, "There is no clause regarding accident nuclear power plants, but diluting contaminated water before discharge is an international treatment method."

The ruling and opposition parties also engaged in a heated debate over the Fukushima nuclear power plant contaminated water issue during the Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee audit. People Power Party lawmaker Choi Chun-sik criticized Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's statement in March, "Are you saying you can buy Fukushima agricultural products but not our farmers' rice?" saying, "It could be misunderstood as the government and ruling party importing Fukushima agricultural products." However, the Democratic Party countered that the statement was a general reference to processed foods made from Fukushima agricultural and marine products currently being imported, and thus was not problematic.

The National Assembly Education Committee was adjourned about 40 minutes after opening due to the mass absence of witnesses summoned for questioning regarding the plagiarism allegations of First Lady Kim Geon-hee's thesis.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Before the audit, these witnesses submitted statements citing overseas trips as reasons for their inability to attend. Opposition party members reported that Kim Ji-yong, chairman of the Kukminhakwon Foundation, was on a North American trip, and Jang Yoon-geum, president of Sookmyung Women's University, was unable to attend due to an on-site evaluation for university institutional accreditation. Professor Seol Min-shin of Hankyong National University was criticized for "going on an official trip for 22 days during the semester without even booking accommodation."

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-ho, the opposition whip of the Education Committee, said, "Core witnesses related to the plagiarism allegations of First Lady Kim Geon-hee's thesis are using tricks to avoid the National Assembly audit again this year, as they did last year," and requested the committee chair to issue a compulsory attendance order for the Sookmyung Women's University president, who habitually mocks and ridicules the National Assembly. Lawmaker Seo Dong-yong also said, "The president of Hankyong National University is responsible for approving Professor Seol Min-shin's abuse of position to go on an evasive trip and trying to cover up the audit," and demanded, "There will be a National Assembly audit for metropolitan area national universities on the afternoon of the 24th, so please ensure the witness appears then."

The Education Committee temporarily suspended the audit to convene a plenary meeting to further discuss the issue of witness attendance. After about 30 minutes of discussion, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to make efforts to have the witnesses attend by that afternoon and resumed the audit.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

During the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee audit, the government’s reduction of research and development (R&D) budgets sparked conflict. The opposition party launched an aggressive attack, focusing on the government's R&D budget cuts. In particular, they raised suspicions that President Yoon Seok-yeol intervened during the process of revising the originally allocated budget by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Chan-dae said, "The budget is experiencing warming due to a single word from President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is called a cartel," adding, "The research field is melting like glaciers." Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Young-chan also emphasized, "After the president's remarks at the fiscal strategy meeting, nearly 5 trillion won was cut from the original plan," highlighting that prominent academic journal representatives such as those from Nature and Science have raised concerns about the budget cuts.

On the other hand, the People Power Party actively defended the government's R&D budget cuts as reasonable. People Power Party lawmaker Kim Byung-wook said, "On average, the R&D budget under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration is much larger than that of the Moon Jae-in administration," adding, "The fact that next year's budget is slightly reduced does not justify claims that the president is driving scientists into a criminal group." Lawmaker Kim Young-sik also said, "Although it is difficult and challenging, we must endure the pain for the future with young junior researchers, reform the practice of monopolizing projects by certain researchers, and support those struggling in the shadows."