Business leaders to skip Assembly audit as Lee highlights APEC event

Rep. Maeng Sung-kyu of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, chairperson of the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee, bangs the gavel during the committee's audit of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

The upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Korea has provided business leaders with what appears to be a reprieve, as the event has been cited as a reason for them to skip the annual National Assembly audit.

With a growing consensus between rival parties on the need to avoid summoning businesspeople before the global gathering, lawmakers have pulled back on plans to call chairs and CEOs from major conglomerates to testify at this year's audit.

On Friday, Rep. Park Jeong-hyeon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) canceled her plan to question Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun regarding company security guards who disrupted a protest by subcontracted workers in front of the company's headquarters in Seoul earlier this year.

Park's decision has largely been attributed to repeated advice from party leadership to avoid summoning business leaders for political reasons, although she also pointed to the carmaker's commitment to supporting subcontracted workers.

President Lee Jae Myung also reportedly questioned lawmakers' intentions to summon so many businesspeople ahead of the APEC event, according to sources within the ruling party.

In response, DPK lawmakers on the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee dropped plans to call in the CEOs of major construction firms on the first day of this year's audit and instead requested that working-level employees attend in place of the chief executives.

Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae and Samsung SDI CEO Choi Joo-sun were also removed from the list of businesspeople scheduled to testify at the standing committee's audit.

Lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) aligned with the ruling party's approach by rescinding plans to summon LG Energy Solution CEO Kim Dong-myung for testimony at the Public Administration and Security Committee's audit session scheduled for Tuesday.

As of Monday 3 p.m., PPP lawmakers were reportedly considering scrapping plans to call SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin, who had been asked to testify at audit sessions of the National Policy Committee and the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee, respectively.

Chey had been asked to appear at the National Assembly on Oct. 28, the opening day of the APEC CEO Summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, despite his role as head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which is chairing the global event.

"Each standing committee has the right to decide whether to stop summoning businesspeople," said Rep. Park Sung-hoon, senior spokesman for the PPP.

The business community has long cried foul over repeated requests to attend the Assembly audit, saying it usually ends up wasting their time and gives them little chance to say more than a few words. Critics argue lawmakers drag in the business leaders merely to attract media attention.