Summoning tycoons for audits 'tricky'

Critics say sessions will be waste of time for many

By Do Je-hae

The rival parties are seeking to summon a number of chaebol owners for the annual National Assembly audit sessions that start Sept. 10 to question them about alleged irregularities.

However, critics say politicians are obsessed with “chaebol bashing” in line with negative public sentiment toward some owners.

The Assembly’s Trade, Industry & Energy Committee alone plans to call in more than 100 businesspeople for the audit sessions.

The sessions could be a waste of time for many given that lawmakers often run out of time to accommodate the excessive number of witnesses during the sessions. In one case, a businessman had to wait for hours to answer one trivial question.

“These are difficult times for the economy,” Rep. Kim Jung-hoon, head of the Saenuri Party’s policy committee, said during a party meeting Tuesday, stressing that the business leaders should be called in only for cases in which their testimony is absolutely necessary.

“The Assembly should refrain from taking an arrogant stance and humiliate corporate chiefs without good reason,” Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Won Yoo-chul said during a radio interview Monday.

Some recent news reports said prominent tycoons expected at the audit include Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin; Cho Yang-ho, chairman of Hanjin Group, the operator of Korean Air; Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong; and Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin, among others.

The main opposition sees the tycoons’ presence as necessary to address issues regarding chaebol reform.

“The Saenuri Party is displaying excessive opposition to having tycoons and key corporate officials attend the audit as witnesses,” New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) floor leader Lee Jong-kul said during a meeting Tuesday. “We will exert all efforts to effectively review the problems that hamper chaebol reform.”

Lee said that the preferential treatment conglomerates have received from authorities has led to their complacency. “As a result, the conglomerates have lost the entrepreneurial spirit and innovation drive, resulting in the economic crisis.”

The presence of the Lotte group leadership is the subject of intense media attention.

Three different committees ― the Policy Committee, the Strategy and Finance Committee and the Trade, Industry & Entergy Committee ― are reportedly planning to call in the Lotte leadership, including Shin Dong-bin, the younger of Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho’s two sons.

The policy committee will question the retail giant's shady governance structure which came under heavy criticism during the recent power game of the two brothers. The finance committee will address Lotte’s duty free operations and the industry committee will look into big retailers’ infringement of rights of street vendors.

The Land, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee is pushing to hear from Hanjin Chairman Cho Yang-ho to testify about what is widely known as the “nut rage” scandal involving his eldest daughter and former Korean Air executive Heather Cho. She was jailed for 143 days for assaulting crew members and disrupting the plane operation after getting upset with the way she was served macadamia nuts.

The Hanjin chairman concurrently serves as the head of a local committee for preparations for 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. There are some concerns that his appearance at the audit may dent the chairman's image as an Olympic leader.

Discussions are also underway at the Health and Welfare Committee to bring in Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong as a witness for reviewing a Samsung-owned hospital’s mishandling of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak that claimed the lives of 36 Koreans.

The final list of the witnesses will be confirmed this week.

The first round of audit sessions will take place from Sept. 10-23, and the second round will be Oct. 1-8.