South Korea's National Assembly opened its annual audit of the government on the 6th, the second under President Lee Jae-myung, with the ruling party aiming to highlight gains in livelihood policies and reform initiatives. The conservative opposition said it would concentrate on exposing missteps in personnel appointments, security and the economy. With the two sides already at odds over whether to compel testimony from figures including Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de and Kim Hyun-ji, head of the first secretariat office at the presidential office, a head-on collision appeared unavoidable from the outset.
Eight standing committees, including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Public Administration and Security Committee, began hearings on the 6th, with the audit running through the 30th, according to political sources. Seventeen committees will review a combined 846 agencies and institutions.
Both parties see high stakes in an audit that puts the Lee administration's record under sustained scrutiny. The People Power Party, which was on the defensive last year amid the push to hold the previous government accountable for insurrection, plans to devote its resources to that examination now that the administration has entered its second year. "I cannot find a single part of the Republic of Korea's system that is working properly," PPP leader Jang Dong-hyuk said at a news conference at the National Assembly on the 5th. "We will question the government thoroughly on behalf of the people." With approval ratings for both the government and the ruling party sliding, the PPP wants to make the audit a showcase for the opposition.
The Democratic Party plans to go all-in on defending the administration by spotlighting its policy results, while counterattacking over the aftereffects of policies under former President Yoon Suk-yeol. "We will make this a forum for crafting policy alternatives for the public and for people's livelihoods," DP floor spokesperson Kim Sung-hoe said.
The first flashpoint is expected at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Supreme Court. Jo, who rejected the president's request to renominate a candidate for Supreme Court justice, is scheduled to appear. Named as a general witness at the Democratic Party's initiative, Jo has submitted a statement declining to testify. He is expected to attend in his capacity as head of the institution, deliver opening remarks and then leave, but the Democratic Party could refuse to let him go and press ahead with questioning, as it did last year. Combined with PPP objections, that raises the prospect of the audit breaking down on its first day. The question of Jo's attendance is likely to remain contentious throughout the audit, entangling judicial independence, the legislature's oversight powers and the friction between the president and the chief justice.
The judiciary committee is also expected to see disputes over follow-up steps to prosecution reform, including whether the newly launched Public Prosecution Office and Serious Crimes Investigation Agency are settling in after the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office, and questions over supplementary investigative authority. Separately from the audit, a confirmation hearing for Kim Ji-yong, nominee to head the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, is expected as early as the 8th and remains a variable. Even within the ruling party, views on his appointment have been out of step.
At the National Defense Committee, a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone is seen as the biggest issue. With North Korea identified as having laid the mines, the parties are set to spar over the military's response and the Lee administration's approach to Pyongyang. The PPP intends to dig into security issues, which resonate strongly with conservative voters. The transfer of wartime operational control, military restructuring and the consolidation of the service academies are also up for review. At the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, debate is expected to continue over North Korea policy and relations with the United States.
Disputes over presidential office personnel will move to the House Steering Committee, where the audit of the presidential secretariat on the 30th, the final day, is the main battleground. Citing a string of failed nominations including that of Kim Seung-won, the former nominee for justice minister, the PPP wants to summon Kim Hyun-ji and Jung Jin-sang, former chief of political coordination at the Democratic Party leader's office, to question allegations that a "Seongnam-Gyeonggi line" of aides has intervened in appointments. The ruling party has opposed calling them, describing the move as a political offensive.
On the economy, negotiations over investment in the United States and accountability for housing and financial policy stand out as the main issues. The Trade, Industry, Energy and SMEs Committee will examine follow-up talks on U.S. investment. With U.S. President Donald Trump treating South Korean participation in an Alaska liquefied natural gas project as a settled matter, the scope of any actual agreement and the project's commercial viability are at issue. The opposition has raised suspicions of closed-door negotiations, pointing to gaps between the government's explanations and announcements from the U.S. side.
The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee will focus on home prices in the greater Seoul area and the government's housing supply measures, while the Finance and Economic Planning Committee will take up how a future response fund of about 100 trillion won is to be financed and concerns that the National Assembly's control over fiscal policy is being weakened.
The Political Affairs Committee will scrutinize the introduction of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds and measures to protect investors. The PPP had sought testimony from Kim Yong-beom, former head of the presidential policy office, and Park Hyeon-joo, chairman of Mirae Asset, to establish how the policy came about, but the request to name them as witnesses failed.
A series of corporate executives are also due to appear. Kim Byung-ju, chairman of MBK Partners, has been named as a witness before the industry committee over the Homeplus crisis, and Joo Sung-won, executive vice president at Coupang, and refiner executives are among those called. The land committee will summon executives from Tesla Korea and BYD Korea as well as officials from major construction companies.
