The National Assembly's annual audit of government operations opens on the 6th. Unlike last year's audit, held just four months after the administration took office, this year's session amounts to the first real review of a full year of governance under President Lee Jae-myung, now in his second year. Pressing issues span the economy, diplomacy, security and the judiciary — from housing policy that directly affects household livelihoods, to an overhaul of the criminal justice system, three mega-projects and a future response fund aimed at nurturing next-generation industries, $350 billion in investment pledged to the United States, and a North Korean landmine blast in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Fierce clashes between the ruling and opposition parties look unavoidable. The People Power Party opened its offensive on the 3rd of this month, days before the audit began, by staging a large outdoor rally in central Seoul.
The audit is a constitutional power and duty under which the National Assembly, on behalf of the public, oversees and examines how the executive branch and state institutions carry out their work, identifies problems and seeks remedies. Yet year after year, audit rooms have been marred by wasteful partisan fighting, indiscriminate demands for witnesses to appear, browbeating and procedural breakdowns, leaving little trace of the oversight and executive check the process is meant to provide.
This year, too, the proceedings have drawn public frustration before they even began. A tug of war between the two sides over witness lists — including Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de and Kim Hyun-ji, head of the presidential office's first secretariat — has already ignited partisan conflict. Business executives who should be busy at their worksites are again being summoned in large numbers. The total falls short of last year's record 195 executives, but more than one in three of the witnesses and persons called in for reference testimony is a business figure. There is concern that lawmakers will repeat the bad practice of leaving executives standing for hours as little more than props, only to dress them down.
South Korea's economy and security stand at a crossroads, and the criminal justice system is undergoing a sweeping transformation. That makes the audit more important than ever: lawmakers must examine livelihood and economic policy from the public's vantage point and assess security and foreign policy strategy by the standards of public safety and the national interest. Only by pressing hard on what needs to be pressed, and separating the government's achievements from its failures, can they improve people's livelihoods and restore public trust in the government and the legislature. If lawmakers neglect rigorous scrutiny of governance and instead repeat political attacks, the punishing of business executives and grandstanding tirades, they will not escape another failing grade like last year's.
