National Audit Week 2... Ruling and Opposition Arrows Focused on 'Lee Jae-myung and Kim Kun-hee'

Handonghun "Democratic Party's Audit, Thief Harassing Police"
Hwang Jeonga "'Yoon Seok-yeol and Kim Geon-hee's National Audit Should Be Highlighted'"

The National Assembly's audit has entered its second week. The Democratic Party stated that it is focusing on highlighting the "'Yoon Seok-yeol and Kim Geon-hee National Assembly Audit'." The People Power Party criticized it, saying, "The audit is turning into a case of a thief harassing the police."

Among the 17 standing committees of the National Assembly, 14 committees began their second-week audit schedule on the 14th. They started the audit earlier this week and plan to conduct it until late October to early November. The Intelligence Committee, the Steering Committee, and the Gender Equality and Family Committee will begin their audits on the 29th and 31st of this month. In the first week of the audit, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over issues such as the judicial risks of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, and allegations of Kim Geon-hee's involvement in candidate nominations. In the second week, the confrontation is expected to continue by holding the agencies responsible for related investigations accountable.

At the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee hearing on the Ministry of Employment and Labor held on the 10th, loud exchanges occurred between ruling and opposition party lawmakers regarding Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo's statement during the confirmation hearing that "the nationality of ancestors during the Japanese colonial period was Japanese." Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee will audit the Ministry of Government Legislation, the Board of Audit and Inspection, the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (PCC), and the High Courts and High Prosecutors' Offices this week. The People Power Party is expected to continue questioning the progress of investigations into opposition figures. They also argue that the opposition-led attempt to impeach prosecutors is inappropriate. The Democratic Party plans to question regarding Myung Tae-gyun, a key figure in the 'Kim Geon-hee nomination interference allegations' under investigation by the PCC, and former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun.

Similar patterns are expected in the Public Administration and Security Committee, which is responsible for the audit of city and provincial offices, including Seoul City Hall where Mayor Oh Se-hoon is located. The opposition is likely to question whether Myung and others were involved in the People Power Party primary process for the 2021 Seoul mayoral candidate. On the other hand, the ruling party plans to focus on highlighting the 'judicial risks' of Lee Jae-myung by raising various allegations during his time as governor of Gyeonggi Province in the audit of the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency and others conducted by the Public Administration and Security Committee. The Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee is conducting audits of overseas diplomatic missions divided into the Americas, Europe, and Africa.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has established a National Security Situation Review Committee in response to the recent escalation of inter-Korean tensions. Members of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee plan to exchange opinions abroad and evaluate the Yoon administration's North Korea policy.

In the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, where the audit of the major shareholder Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation of Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Educational Broadcasting System (EBS), and Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) is scheduled, both ruling and opposition parties are expected to engage in uncompromising debates over issues such as KBS's separate collection of license fees and allegations of biased reporting.