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| The schedule for the parliamentary audits posted on the wall of an office at the National Assembly, Monday. Yonhap |
By Lee Kyung-min
The National Assembly will begin its parliamentary audits of 783 government organizations, Tuesday, the first such scrutiny of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration five months since its inauguration. The audits by 14 standing committees will continue through Oct. 24.
One of the main highlights will be a comprehensive comparative oversight of policy missteps between Yoon and his predecessor Moon Jae-in, mostly over allegations of corruption in the energy and real estate markets as well as price mismanagement of key foods and services including agricultural produce.
Whether the scrutiny will be reduced to partisan political bickering remains to be seen. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has been ratcheting up calls for someone to take responsibility over Yoon's recent diplomatic gaffes and the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan. This followed the ruling People Power Party (PPP) pledging to lay bare the Moon administration's policy failures.
DPK leader and former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and his wife Kim Hye-kyung will be grilled over a host of corruption allegations and suspicions of abuse of office during his time as Gyeonggi Province governor and Seongnam mayor. First Lady Kim Keon-hee will be facing allegations of stock manipulation and plagiarism.
The National Assembly Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee will examine suspected irregularities in the renewable energy industry, reported recently by an investigation led jointly by the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
According to the Sept. 13 findings of the joint investigation, 2,267 irregularities were reported in 12 of the country's 226 municipalities, for a combined amount of over 261 billion won ($181 million) between September 2021 and August this year.
Many industry watchers say some energy cooperatives were granted special treatment, including unreasonable expansion of small solar businesses. Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang reiterated the need to outline a new renewable energy policy directive to correct the status quo.
The Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Committee will discuss Lee Jae-myung's alleged involvement in a land and commercial district development project to the tune of over 1 trillion won in Daejang-dong in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Lee allegedly helped a construction firm and six key figures related to the firm to net 404.4 billion won, or 68.4 percent of 590 billion won, in dividends from the project.
The tanking prices of rice, Korea's staple crop, will be discussed at the Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee.
