Ruling and Opposition Parties Only Offering Words on the 'LH Incident'

Political Sphere Turns LH Special Investigation into a 'Feast of Words'
Opposition Party's Excuse for 'Full Investigation of 300 National Assembly Members'
Opposition Mentions 'State Audit' but Fails to Submit Request
Ruling and Opposition Parties Only Escalate Political Conflict Without Taking Action

[Asia Economy Reporters Koo Chae-eun, Lee Hyun-joo] Ahead of the April 7 by-elections, both ruling and opposition parties are hesitating to take actual action despite flooding the airwaves with a "feast of words" on countermeasures following the 'LH scandal.'

The ruling party is emphasizing the opposition's responsibility by proposing a special investigation into LH and a full survey of National Assembly members, but it is not actively moving forward with the passage of the special investigation law, which it can push through alone, or the LH 5 Laws legislation that requires 'retroactive application.' The opposition party, meanwhile, has pulled out the card of a parliamentary audit but has only repeated counterattacks against the ruling party's proposals without even drafting a formal request. This is interpreted as a judgment that it is difficult to predict whether either side would receive a 'favorable outcome' if a special investigation or full survey were to be carried out.

According to the National Assembly on the 15th, the Democratic Party is preparing to quell the LH scandal by presenting cards such as the passage of the LH 5 Laws, including the Public Officials Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, within March, a special investigation into LH, and a full survey of 300 National Assembly members and landowners in the 3rd New Town development areas. Among the cards presented by the ruling party, the only progress made so far is the agreement to hold a public hearing for the enactment of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act. Other proposals, including the LH special investigation and the full survey of 300 National Assembly members, have seen no progress and are being consumed only by political strife.

The ruling party is placing all weight on the 'opposition responsibility theory.' Kim Tae-nyeon, acting leader of the Democratic Party and floor leader, said at the party's Central Election Committee meeting that day, "The People Power Party is rejecting both the full survey of National Assembly members and the special investigation," adding, "It seems they are only interested in the election spoils. We propose a full real estate survey of candidates for the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections, including elected officials and their immediate families." Lee Nak-yeon, co-chairman of the joint election committee, also urged the People Power Party to conduct a full real estate survey of National Assembly members, saying, "If they are not thieves with guilty consciences, I wonder why they would avoid it."

However, the 'full survey' card is not easy to realize, and there is considerable criticism that it is political rhetoric. The full survey of National Assembly members has been mentioned five times since the Moon Jae-in administration, but it has never led to an actual investigation or punishment of members. Legislative responses are also not smooth. The ruling party has taken legislative action on the 'LH 5 Laws,' which include confiscation of unjust gains and imposing fines up to five times the amount, but all five laws require 'retroactive' application, which has constitutional issues, to be effective, making progress difficult. Even within the party, there is no unified 'solution' on how to resolve the challenges of retroactive application.

The opposition party is increasing its attack by linking the LH scandal to the Moon Jae-in administration's 'sore spot'?the failure of real estate policies. Yet, it appears to be stalling without taking substantial action. The parliamentary audit proposed by the opposition is a representative example. The People Power Party and the People Party submitted a 'request for a parliamentary audit to investigate the allegations related to the Moon Jae-in administration's North Korea nuclear power plant construction documents' in early last month. However, regarding the LH scandal, which has greater social impact, they have only verbally attacked without showing clear action. They are also lukewarm about the full survey or special investigation.

The opposition views both the full survey and special investigation as the ruling party's stalling tactics amid election urgency. Since the special investigation would take about two months just to form, the opposition sees no reason to agree with it when less than 20 days remain before the election. On the 12th, Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at a floor strategy meeting, "The Democratic Party should first conduct a full survey of its own affiliated metropolitan mayors, local councilors, basic local government heads, and related public enterprise employees," adding, "Then we will conduct our own full survey."

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