The National Assembly opens its annual audit of government agencies on the 6th, the second such review under President Lee Jae-myung. Through the hearings, which run through the end of October, the ruling Democratic Party plans to showcase progress on the administration's policy agenda while probing what it calls the policy failures and lingering damage left by the previous government. The opposition People Power Party, meanwhile, intends to go on the offensive across the full range of government activity, including housing, national security, fiscal policy and personnel appointments. Clashes between the two sides are expected on multiple fronts.
Ruling Party Calls It a Policy Audit, Opposition a Test of Lee's Record
The Democratic Party has defined the hearings as an audit focused on policy and people's livelihoods. As the governing party, it aims to highlight results on key policy goals while addressing gaps in government programs, presenting itself as a party that governs responsibly.
At the same time, the party plans to counter opposition attacks on the Lee administration's record by emphasizing the aftereffects of policies pursued under the Yoon Suk-yeol government. On housing in particular, it intends to argue that inadequate supply measures under the Yoon government and the Seoul city administration led by Mayor Oh Se-hoon are the main cause of the current shortage of jeonse (a Korean lease system requiring a large lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent) and monthly-rent housing in the greater Seoul area, along with the supply shortfall.
The party is also expected to respond to criticism of its expansionary fiscal stance by arguing that the previous government's emphasis on fiscal soundness held back economic growth.
The People Power Party, for its part, is determined to use the hearings as a test of the Lee administration's performance. It plans to mount a sweeping review built around what it describes as 10 major policy failures, including a recent blast in the Demilitarized Zone believed to have been caused by a landmine, the overhaul of the criminal justice system that includes abolishing the prosecution service, the shortage of jeonse and monthly-rent housing, the controversy over introducing single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds, and a comprehensive survey of farmland.
Chief Justice Nomination Dispute and Presidential Office Appointments Top the Agenda
The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee is seen as the arena where the two parties will clash most sharply. The central issue there is Chief Justice Jo Hee-de's refusal to submit a new recommendation for a Supreme Court justice nominee.
The Democratic Party has been pressing hard, arguing that Jo's refusal to recommend a nominee infringes on citizens' right to a trial and that he may have violated the Constitution and the law by, among other things, convening a meeting of senior court officials during the martial law declaration on Dec. 3.
The People Power Party counters that the dispute amounts to President Lee encroaching on the chief justice's power to recommend justices, and that the ruling party is intimidating the judiciary in order to have the charges against Lee dropped and block his trials.
At the Steering Committee hearings, vetting procedures surrounding the failed nominations of former ministerial candidates Yong Hye-in and Kim Seung-won are expected to be the main issue. The People Power Party believes Kim Hyun-ji, chief of the Presidential Office's First Secretariat, is at the center of personnel decisions and plans to press allegations of appointments made outside official channels.
The Democratic Party has defended Kim against those attacks, saying appointments were handled in accordance with lawful procedures.
At the National Policy Committee, the two parties are bracing for a fight over allegations that former Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won sought favors in the approval of a clinical trial for a new drug.
At the National Defense Committee, the People Power Party, which attributes the DMZ blast to what it calls a submissive security posture toward North Korea, will face off against the ruling party, which stresses the importance of merging the military academies and of transferring wartime operational control.
Fights Over Witness Lists Could Disrupt Committee Sessions
Disputes over which witnesses to summon are also expected to continue. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee, acting on a ruling party push, designated Jo as an ordinary witness and has requested that he appear at the Supreme Court hearing on the 6th.
The Democratic Party maintains that Jo must be sworn in and testify, but the People Power Party opposes that, raising the possibility of a breakdown in proceedings from the first day of the audit.
The People Power Party has asked that Kim Yong-beom, former head of the Presidential Office's policy planning office, appear as a witness before the National Policy Committee and the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee to answer questions on the introduction of single-stock ETFs and on housing policy. It is also demanding that Kim Hyun-ji appear to address the personnel issues.
At the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee, the opposition has requested Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won as witnesses in connection with plans for a semiconductor mega-cluster in the Honam region, a demand the ruling party strongly opposes.
The People Power Party says the hearings should examine whether the government pressured Samsung Electronics, SK Group and others to invest in semiconductor facilities in Honam. The Democratic Party has made clear it will not accept the request, saying the opposition is indiscriminately summoning witnesses to stir up unnecessary political conflict.
