Woowa Brothers, Google Korea Chiefs Called to Parliamentary Audit

The National Assembly's Finance, Economy and Planning Committee on the 28th approved Kim Beom-seok, chief executive of Woowa Brothers, the operator of delivery app Baemin, and Google Korea head Yoon Koo as witnesses for its parliamentary audit of government agencies. Requests by the opposition to summon former presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom and former Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo were blocked by the ruling party.

The committee held a plenary session that day and agreed to call six witnesses and four expert participants to the audit, passing a motion requesting their attendance.

Kim Beom-seok is expected to face questions about fund transfers between Woowa Brothers and its overseas affiliates. Lawmakers plan to examine how money was moved to the overseas parent and affiliates, and whether domestic corporate taxes and withholding taxes were properly paid in the process. Yoon is expected to be questioned intensively over allegations that Google Korea avoided corporate taxes and evaded taxes.

The committee also plans to call SK Energy Chief Executive Kim Jong-hwa to review losses at refiners from a ceiling price system for petroleum products and the status of compensation. Expert participants on the consolidation and relocation of state-run institutions include Ryu Han-seul, head of the labor union at the Korea Institute of Aviation Safety Technology, and Park Shin-ho, head of the labor union at the Busan Port Authority. On the creation of a future response fund, the list includes Kim Tae-sik, secretary general of the council of education superintendents, and Kim Hak-soo, a senior research fellow at the Korea Development Institute.

Kim Yong-beom and Yeo, both requested by the People Power Party, were left off the list. Bae Joon-young, the opposition liaison on the committee, criticized the outcome. "We requested 36 witnesses for this audit, but only five were accepted," he said. "We cannot help but ask why they want to leave out the key witnesses." On Kim in particular, he said, "His attendance is necessary to confirm what discussions produced this tax reform plan and what consultations and judgments took place between the presidential office and the government."

The Democratic Party countered that witnesses it had requested were also rejected, and that the names sought by the opposition involve matters that should be handled by other standing committees. The committee plans to pass a second list of witnesses and expert participants after further negotiations between the parties.