First National Audit in 6 Months Since General Election Shows Lack of Preparation
Key Witnesses Consistently Absent, Authority Declines
As this year's National Assembly audit schedule nears its end, criticism is growing both inside and outside the political sphere, labeling it as an unprecedentedly 'ineffective audit.' Various allegations surrounding First Lady Kim Geon-hee have dominated the entire audit, leading to accusations that both ruling and opposition parties focused on political strife while neglecting public welfare. The repeated confrontations between the parties have resulted in the audit, once considered the highlight of the National Assembly and a gateway for star politicians, ending empty-handed.
According to political circles, the first National Assembly audit of the 22nd National Assembly is in its final stages this week, with most of the 17 standing committees wrapping up their audit schedules. Although the audit continues until the 1st of next month, the Health and Welfare Committee will hold its session on the 23rd, followed by the Political Affairs, Education, Science and ICT, and Environment and Labor Committees on the 24th, and the Judiciary and Political Affairs Committees entering comprehensive audits on the 25th.
The growing criticism of this year's audit as an unprecedentedly ineffective one stems from the political turmoil caused by allegations of First Lady Kim's involvement in candidate selection and the expos? by a key figure, Myung Tae-gyun. Opposition parties, including the Democratic Party, focused on attacking the ruling party over Kim's alleged stock manipulation of Deutsche Motors and candidate interference. The People Power Party targeted Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's judicial risks. These issues acted like a black hole, absorbing other topics.
In fact, the Judiciary Committee issued a summons for the first time in constitutional history to the president's wife for her absence as a witness. The Presidential Office strongly opposed this, calling it the 'true face of one-party dictatorship in the legislature.' With 33 witnesses and reference persons, including Kim, her elder brother, and Myung, selected for the Presidential Office audit on the 1st of next month, aftershocks are inevitable until the end of the audit.
The fact that this was the first audit held six months after the general election was also cited as a reason for the weakened momentum. Among the 131 newly elected lawmakers in the April 10 general election this year, they account for 43.6% of the total 300 seats. As they entered the audit about four months after starting their actual legislative activities post-election, there was physically insufficient time to prepare. The historically late opening of the National Assembly, marked by intensified conflicts between ruling and opposition parties over committee assignments, also posed problems. A political insider said, "Key aides who assist each lawmaker with policy also confessed that the process of committee assignments right after the general election inevitably disrupted audit preparations."
NewJeans' Hani is attending as a witness at the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee audit held on the 15th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
The decline in the credibility of the audit itself is also cited as a problem. Many key witnesses related to this year's audit were absent, adopting a 'stalling' tactic, indicating that the authority of the National Assembly is not what it used to be. Professor Seol Min-shin of Hankyong National University, related to the allegation of ghostwriting Kim's thesis, was absent from the audit, and Park Soon-gwan, CEO of Arisel, who was identified as responsible for the fire disaster at the Hwaseong Arisel factory, also did not appear before the National Assembly. Nam Kyu-hong, a PD accused of unfair contracts, bullying, and embezzlement of rebroadcast fees, also cited the 'launch of a new regular program' as a reason for absence. A political insider said, "Isn't the only star of this year's audit Hani of NewJeans, who attended as a reference person at the Environment and Labor Committee?" adding, "Lawmakers who prepared diligently for the audit with pointed questions in the standing committees were not mentioned at all."
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