National Assembly Judiciary Committee Holds Supreme Court Audit Today... Likely to Clash Over Verdicts of Kwon Soon-il and Lee Jae-myung

Supreme Court building in Seocho-dong, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee will conduct a national audit of the Supreme Court on the 1st.

As this is the first confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties since the 'Daejang-dong Development Project Favoritism' allegations surfaced, intense clashes are expected over the Supreme Court's full bench ruling on the public official election law violation case involving Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, in which former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il, who served as an advisor to Hwacheon Daeyu after retirement, was involved.

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee will conduct national audits starting with the Supreme Court on the 1st, followed by the Ministry of Justice on the 5th, the Board of Audit and Inspection on the 7th, the Constitutional Court and the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (PACC) on the 12th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and local prosecutors' offices on the 14th, the Seoul Central District Court and local courts on the 15th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 18th, and the Ministry of Government Legislation on the 19th.

The first national audit by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee will be held at 10 a.m. at the Supreme Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul.

This year's audit is expected to feature ongoing confrontations between the ruling and opposition parties over the 'accusation solicitation' allegations involving prominent presidential candidates from both sides and the 'Daejang-dong Development Project Favoritism' allegations.

In particular, former Justice Kwon had expressed a not-guilty opinion on Governor Lee during the full bench ruling before his retirement, but after retirement, he was revealed to have received substantial advisory fees and salary as an advisor to Hwacheon Daeyu, which led the Daejang-dong development project alongside Seongnam Urban Development Corporation. This has raised suspicions that the not-guilty verdict for Governor Lee may have been in exchange for these benefits, making it likely that opposition lawmakers will heavily criticize him during the audit.

The previous day, some media outlets disclosed that Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, met several times with former Justice Kwon from just before the appeal case against Governor Lee was filed until shortly after the Supreme Court's full bench issued the not-guilty ruling, further intensifying the suspicions.

The opposition is also expected to continue attacks on Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo's political bias, citing his breaking of customary practices by retaining the presiding judge handling cases related to ruling party figures and his refusal to accept the resignation of former Busan High Court Chief Judge Im Seong-geun amid impeachment discussions in the National Assembly.

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