(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Gyeong-jun = The second government audit held under the Lee Jae-myung administration began on the 6th.
Eight standing committees, including the Political Affairs Committee, conducted an audit of government affairs, and following last year, the main character of the audit on the first day of this year was Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, who appeared before the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
If the Supreme Court's decision to overturn and remand President Lee Jae-myung's violation of the Public Official Election Act as guilty a year ago was an issue, today a major conflict broke out over the issue of reappointment of the Supreme Court justices.
In the Legislative and Judiciary Committee, it is customary for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to leave after giving greetings and the Director of the National Court Administration to answer questions from members as a representative of the organization, but this day was different.
In a pre-prepared greeting, Chief Justice Cho said regarding the issue of recommending Supreme Court Justice candidates, "We judged that there would be difficulties in proceeding with the follow-up process because the specific reasons and constitutional basis were not clearly stated in the official document requesting re-nomination by the Blue House."
Chief Justice Cho, who reaffirmed his position in this way, did not take the witness oath, saying there was a risk of undermining the principles of separation of powers and judicial independence.
The Democratic Party of Korea demanded that Chief Justice Cho explain as a witness his refusal to re-nomine a Supreme Court Justice candidate, and the People Power Party countered that Chief Justice Cho should resign as is customary.
As soon as the questioning began, the Democratic Party began in earnest to investigate the issue of the Supreme Court Justice's refusal to reappoint.
Democratic Party lawmaker Park Gyun-taek said, “It is very mistaken to think that the right to recommend is above the right to appoint the president,” and added, “It is a violation of constitutional provisions, which is sufficient grounds for impeachment.”
On the other hand, Rep. Jin-Woo Joo of the People Power Party criticized, "Is it constitutionally permissible for the President to threaten and pressure the President to nominate a specific Supreme Court Justice while insisting on recommending a specific person in order to shop for the Supreme Court Justice as he pleases?" and added, "The right to recommend the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is being undermined."
Regarding this issue, Chief Justice Cho took out a piece of paper with a message written on it as if he had made up his mind and emphasized, "Just as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court cannot be involved in the National Assembly's consent process or the President's appointment process, the National Assembly and the President cannot be involved in the Supreme Court Chief Justice's recommendation at all."
At the Legislative and Judiciary Committee audit, the ruling and opposition parties repeatedly clashed and continued shouting and arguing.
Regarding the issue of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Lee-seok, People Power Party lawmakers protested, saying, "Lee Jae-myung should also come out," and calling it "legislative dictatorship," when Seo Young-kyo, chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Democratic Party, asked, "Why are you so arrogant?"
When Progressive Party lawmaker Son Sol asked Chief Justice Cho Cho during questioning, "Are you dreaming of becoming the second Yoon Seok-yeol?", the National Assembly inspector general was thrown into chaos again.
When People Power Party Rep. Kim Tae-gyu told Rep. Son, “Be a human being,” Chairman Seo suspended Rep. Kim’s right to speak.
In other standing committees, the ruling and opposition parties also clashed over sensitive issues.
The issue of adopting a resolution condemning North Korea's landmine provocation in the Demilitarized Zone and calling for sanctions against North Korea came up during the audit of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others.
Rep. Kim Dae-sik of the People Power Party, the opposition party's secretary, requested, "Please quickly prepare a resolution within the committee."
Then Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Ki-won, the ruling party's secretary, said, "There is no reason to oppose," but refuted that the resolution that the ruling party proposed to be adopted by the National Defense Commission was canceled due to wording issues such as resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts against North Korea, so the process should be watched.
At the Ministry of Finance and Economy's Financial and Economic Planning Committee, a battle broke out over the issue of submitting data to clarify the process of introducing a single-stock leveraged ETF.
The People Power Party demanded the submission of Blue House meeting minutes, but the Democratic Party went on the defense, saying it was not under the jurisdiction of the Finance and Economy Committee.
In the National Administration and Security Committee's audit of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, the Central Investigation Agency, which was launched without a head, became an issue.
In the end, Minister of Public Administration and Security Yun Ho-jung bowed his head, saying, "I did my best, but I am very sorry."
During the National Assembly audit of the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Science and ICT Committee, a war of words took place even before the questioning began over the qualifications of lawmakers from the opposing camp to participate in the National Assembly inspection.
While the People Power Party repeatedly raised suspicions of 'external pressure' on KBS's report by Rep. Han Joon-ho of the Democratic Party, a secretary of the ruling party, the Democratic Party raised its voice calling for Rep. Lee Jin-sook of the People Power Party to be excluded from the National Assembly audit, taking issue with the controversy over the May 18 distortion.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment's audit by the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee focused attention on the Honam Semiconductor Industrial Complex.
Rep. Yoon Jae-ok of the People Power Party criticized, “The government said it would aim to build the first phase power supply line to the Honam Semiconductor Industrial Complex by the end of 2029, but the Ministry of Climate Change announced that it would advance this by a year,” and “they are pulling the construction period like a rubber band.”
Rep. Shin Jeong-hoon of the Democratic Party refuted the criticism from some that the Honam semiconductor industrial complex is a regional privilege, saying, "We chose to locate in the Honam region because it has a relatively large development capacity."
In the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's government audit by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Small and Medium Venture Business Committee, the People Power Party raised the Honam semiconductor mega project as an issue.
People Power Party lawmaker Jo Ji-yeon mentioned the shortage of semiconductor budgets in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions and argued, "We pledged to ensure equitable regional growth, but if you look at the budget alone, it is a 'Honam one-pole growth' project."
Rep. Jang Cheol-min, secretary of the Democratic Party, called for a complaint and investigation at the committee level, citing the fact that the report was leaked during a recent private report on the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's investment strategy for the United States.
