Parties set to clash at Nat'l Assembly audit of government

Government officials prepare for the National Assembly's audit at the Government Complex in Sejong City, Monday, one day before the parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee. Yonhap

The National Assembly's audit of the government, scheduled to kick off, Tuesday, is poised to set the stage for a fierce political showdown as both the ruling and opposition parties are preparing for a rigorous 24-day performance evaluation.

While a total of 791 state organizations are set to be audited, the rival parties are bracing for an intense battle that could have significant implications for the upcoming general elections slated for April, in which voters will elect new lawmakers.

One central point of contention throughout the annual parliamentary audit is expected to be multiple corruption charges faced by Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) is poised to launch a full-scale offensive against the opposition leader who has been indicted by the prosecution without physical detention. Lee has been accused of breach of trust, bribery and other charges in connection with a scandal-ridden land development project while he was mayor of Seongnam, and his alleged involvement in a company’s illegal cash remittance to North Korea while he was governor of Gyeonggi Province.

The ruling party is expected to place the issue high on the agenda during the audit by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, in addition to the DPK’s responsibility for causing a leadership vacuum in the judiciary as a result of the opposition-controlled Assembly’s rejection of Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee Lee Gyun-ryong on Friday. Without a chief justice, the top court cannot hold sessions to review sensitive and important cases before all of the judges.

In response, the largest opposition party is expected to take the issue of what it calls a politically-motivated investigation by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration against its leader, and move to hold Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon in check as a court rejected an arrest warrant sought by the prosecution against Lee on Sept. 27.

Yoon, who was the prosecutor general before becoming president, defeated Lee by a narrow margin in the 2022 presidential election.

The Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee will address contentious issues, such as the previous Moon Jae-in administration’s 2019 repatriation of two North Korean fishermen to the North and the issue of leaked Pentagon documents that purport the U.S. had eavesdropped on Seoul’s top security officials.

Japan’s discharge of treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, and the Korean government's response to the release are expected to be addressed by various committees, including the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee.

At the Gender Equality and Family Committee, members of the ruling and opposition blocs are expected to hold a fierce debate over who has to take the responsibility for the bungled 2023 World Scout Jamboree that faced much criticism for inadequate preparations in August.

The grand finale of the parliamentary audit will center on the presidential office, with the Steering Committee scheduled to examine the top office, the National Security Office and the Presidential Security Service on Nov. 7.