Concerns grow over lawmakers summoning biz leaders to Assembly audits

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Business

Sat, September 30, 2023 | 15:38

Companies

Concerns grow over lawmakers summoning biz leaders to Assembly audits

Posted : 2022-09-23 15:09

Updated : 2022-09-25 14:48

Members of the Foreign Affairs & Unification Committee hold a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sept. 16. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-keun

By Park Jae-hyuk

Lawmakers of the liberal main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and even those belonging to the business-friendly ruling conservative People Power Party (PPP) seek to summon heads of the country's leading conglomerates to the National Assembly audit next month as witnesses, according to industry officials and media reports, Friday.

Their plans have caused concerns among the business community again about the possibility of the lawmakers' questions embarrassing businesspeople in the public audit sessions.

DPK lawmakers of the Foreign Affairs & Unification Committee reportedly decided to summon Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo to ask them about the impacts of the U.S.-led Chip 4 semiconductor alliance and the Inflation Reduction Act on Korean businesses.

There is also speculation that the opposition party may ask "chaebol" group leaders whether the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has forced them to promote Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030 internationally.

The Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee's lawmakers are said to be considering summoning at least 40 businesspeople to the National Assembly audit, including the top four business group chiefs. Some DPK lawmakers of the committee have reportedly tried to summon Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin, who stirred up controversy earlier this year over his remarks against communism as well as the Chinese Communist Party on Instagram.

Within the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, the chief executives of Naver, Kakao, Coupang and Woowa Brothers, as well as the managers of the Korean operations of Google and Netflix, have been mentioned as potential witnesses. The committee is expected to summon the CEOs of SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus as well.

An aide to Rep. Noh Woong-rae of the DPK, who belongs to the Environment & Labor Committee, said that the lawmaker plans to summon CEO David Song of SCK Company, which was formerly Starbucks Coffee Korea, and Kurly CEO Sophie Kim, in order to question Song about a carcinogen detected in the coffee shop chain's giveaway picnic bags and ask Kim to answer questions on allegations that her company blacklisted some temporary workers at its logistics centers in order to fire them.

Rep. Joo Ho-young of the PPP criticized the DPK, urging the main opposition party's lawmakers to "engage in negotiations that prevent as much as possible the use of witnesses from the business circle to drive public opinion or recklessly humiliate them, as the economy is difficult right now."

"The National Assembly has tended to force civilian witnesses to wait a long time and then briefly ask questions irrelevant to their jobs," the ruling party's floor leader said Friday.

Rep. Lim Lee-ja, the PPP's executive secretary for the Environment & Labor Committee, however, is also said to be trying to summon the SK Group chairman and over 20 other businesspeople as witnesses to ask their opinions about environmental and labor regulations.

The ruling party's lawmakers are also expected to summon POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo to enable the government to avoid any responsibility for the flooding of POSCO's main steel mill in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, by blaming the company's management for taking insufficient measures to brace for Typhoon Hinnamnor, which swept through the region.

Meanwhile, the chairmen of the country's top five banking groups ― KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NongHyup ― are unlikely to appear at the National Assembly audit, as they will go to the U.S. next month to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.

pjh@koreatimes.co.kr