Second Day of National Assembly Audit... Heated Exchanges Between Lee Jae-myung and Kim Geon-hee Expected Across Standing Committees

The Most Contested Battlegrounds Between Ruling and Opposition Parties Likely to Be the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Political Affairs Committee
Each Holds National Audit Countermeasure Meetings and Engages in Off-Site Public Opinion Battles

On the second day of the 2024 regular National Assembly audit on the 8th, it is expected that ten committees, including the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, will engage in fierce battles over political issues. The People Power Party focused its firepower on Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is on trial for various charges. On the other hand, the opposition is expected to expand the frontlines with issues including First Lady Kim Geon-hee’s luxury bag acceptance controversy and plagiarism allegations, legislative conflicts, and suspicions of investigation interference in the death case of Chae Sang-byeong.

On this day, the National Assembly will conduct the second day of the audit in the Legislation and Judiciary, Political Affairs, Education, Science and ICT Broadcasting and Communications, Foreign Affairs and Unification, National Defense, Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups, Health and Welfare, Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, Oceans and Fisheries, and Environment and Labor Committees. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Political Affairs Committee are considered the fiercest battlegrounds between the ruling and opposition parties. In the Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit targeting the Ministry of Justice and the Korea Legal Aid Corporation, the ruling party is expected to attack over the trials and investigations related to Lee Jae-myung’s Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong cases, as well as allegations of remittances to North Korea. Ruling party lawmakers such as Jang Dong-hyuk and Song Seok-jun launched fierce attacks the previous day during the Supreme Court and Court Administration Office audit, claiming that Lee’s trials have been repeatedly delayed.

The opposition is expected to address the investigation into First Lady Kim Geon-hee’s alleged stock price manipulation in the Deutsche Motors case, the dismissal of charges related to the luxury bag acceptance allegations, and the 'Jang Si-ho perjury coaching case.' The Legislation and Judiciary Committee has summoned Jang Si-ho as a witness regarding suspicions that the prosecution coached her to commit perjury; Jang is the niece of Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil). There will also be inquiries to uncover the reality of the 'No Tae-woo slush fund' revealed during the divorce lawsuit between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and No So-young, director of the Art Center Nabi. The ruling and opposition parties have previously summoned No So-young, No Jae-heon, director of the East Asia Culture Center, and Kim Ok-sook, wife of former President No, as witnesses for the Ministry of Justice audit.

During the Political Affairs Committee audit targeting the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission and the Personal Information Protection Commission, there will likely be focused questioning on the process of closing the investigation into First Lady Kim’s luxury bag acceptance allegations and the death of a senior official in charge. Earlier, in June, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission closed the case without referring it to investigative agencies, stating that there was "no relevance to the president or official duties." Jeong Seung-yoon, the commission’s vice chairman and secretary-general who led the closure of Kim’s case, has not had his resignation processed and is scheduled to appear at the audit, which is expected to trigger a barrage of attacks from the opposition. Meanwhile, the ruling party plans to question the judgment that only medical staff and 119 paramedics violated the code of conduct in the helicopter transfer privilege controversy involving Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung in January. Jeong Seung-yoon submitted his resignation before the audit, but since it was not accepted, he will automatically attend the audit and face criticism from lawmakers of both parties.

Chu Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the National Assembly's audit countermeasure meeting held on the 8th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

In the Education Committee audit targeting the Ministry of Education and the National Education Commission, a fierce battle between the ruling and opposition parties is expected over First Lady Kim’s alleged plagiarism in her master’s and doctoral theses and suspicions related to the New Right history textbooks. In the Industry Committee, issues such as government solutions to delivery app commissions and problems with the operation of public home shopping caused by the T-Mef (Timon and Wemakeprice) incident will be addressed. The Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, Oceans and Fisheries Committee audit of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will cover the issue of contaminated water from Japanese nuclear power plants. The Science and ICT Committee audit targeting the Ministry of Science and ICT will focus on the reduction of research and development (R&D) budgets, while the Health and Welfare Committee audit of the Ministry of Health and Welfare will scrutinize the government’s response to legislative conflicts and medical crises. The Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee audit targeting the Ministry of Unification will address North Korea’s release of waste balloons, and the National Defense Committee audit targeting the Ministry of National Defense will include inquiries into the relocation of the presidential office and residence, investigation interference in the death case of Chae Sang-byeong, the monopoly of military intelligence lines by the Chung-Ang High School alumni line to which President Yoon Seok-yeol belongs, and suspicions of martial law preparations. Intelligence Commander Ye In-hyung will appear at the audit that day.

The People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea held pre-audit strategy meetings and engaged in off-site public opinion battles to secure leadership. Park Chan-dae, the Democratic Party floor leader, stated at the first National Assembly audit strategy meeting held at the National Assembly that day, "We will promote a permanent special prosecutor alongside the existing special prosecutor to investigate the allegations of state power manipulation by First Lady Kim." In contrast, Choo Kyung-ho, the People Power Party floor leader, countered at the National Assembly audit strategy meeting, saying, "The special prosecutor’s rampage is getting worse." The Democratic Party has proposed a revision to the National Assembly rules to prevent the ruling party from participating in the candidate recommendation committee for the permanent special prosecutor who will investigate illegal acts involving the president and his family.

Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the National Assembly's audit countermeasure meeting held on the 8th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@