Park Sung-joong "'Ineffective Audit', Unable to Adopt Witnesses" vs Park Yong-jin "Due to Opposition's Incompetence"

Park Sung-joong, the secretary of the People Power Party, is debating with ruling party lawmakers over the adoption of witnesses at the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee's video audit of the National IT Industry Promotion Agency, Korea Internet & Security Agency, and Korea Communications Agency on the 13th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Regarding the criticism calling the National Assembly audit, which began on the 7th, a "bland audit," Democratic Party lawmaker Park Yong-jin and People Power Party lawmaker Park Sung-joong engaged in a blame game. Lawmaker Park Sung-joong argued, "The audit is becoming a 'bland audit' because witnesses and reference persons are missing," while lawmaker Park Yong-jin retorted, "It's the opposition party's incompetence."

On the 14th, on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show," Park Sung-joong stated, "The public and the media are evaluating it as a 'bland audit,' so I humbly accept that for now," adding, "As a secretary, I feel it is 'bland.'"

Park Sung-joong pointed out, "We need to provide the public with something refreshing like a soda and scratch where it itches, but since key witnesses and reference persons are all missing, it is very difficult," and added, "The audited institutions refuse to submit important requested materials citing reasons like personal information protection. If they hold out until the end, it is practically impossible to proceed, so I think it is turning into a 'bland National Assembly.'"

He continued, "We should have summoned people like Lee Hae-jin, Global Investment Officer (GIO) of Naver, or Kim Beom-su, Chairman of Kakao, who are related to portal opinion manipulation, but (we couldn't)," and claimed, "The ruling party did not agree, so we couldn't even adopt witnesses."

On the morning of the 15th of last month, Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asserted at the National Assembly Communication Office that "Samsung Securities was broadly involved in the merger process of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, and financial authorities should launch an investigation." Photo by Yonhap News

On the same day, lawmaker Park Yong-jin, who appeared together, countered Park Sung-joong's claim by saying, "A bland audit with no impact is the opposition party's incompetence."

Park Yong-jin said, "There should be at least a bone to make a rich broth, but not even a single solid ingredient was made, and they complain, 'The broth tastes bland, it's watered down,' which is the opposition party's incompetence," adding, "When we were the opposition, the ruling party similarly prevented the adoption of key witnesses and the materials were not helpful either."

He continued, "How to break through such situations depends on how well the opposition handles these issues," and pointed out, "Reconfirming stories already reported in the media won't break through the audit. The opposition must start by bringing stories and evidence they have independently verified through on-site investigation."

He added, "They can find and bring up things even the media cannot confirm," and said, "But without that, they just complain, 'Why don't they adopt key witnesses? Why don't they provide materials?' Even the ruling party cannot get materials. Even I, as a ruling party lawmaker, find it difficult to get approval when I request someone I consider a key witness."

Park Yong-jin criticized, "You have to throw a bone first to cause a commotion so that they cannot refuse to adopt witnesses. Thinking 'If I summon them, I can reveal something' without doing that is the problem itself."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.