[Deadline Missed Settlement①] Legal Deadline Useless for 11 Years... Late Again This Year

Current Speed Theory Faces Difficulty Wrapping Up in August
Review Unavoidable After Next Month's Regular National Assembly

"Less Interest from Both Parties Than Budget, No Separate Review Schedule Set"
Experts Point Out Institutional Deficiencies

On the 20th, when local election campaigns were in full swing, many seats were empty at the Budget and Accounts Committee plenary session held at the National Assembly. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Last year, the National Assembly’s audit review of the country’s finances is likely to exceed the legal deadline for the 11th consecutive year this year. The National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts and other standing committees are supposed to complete the audit review by the end of August, before the regular session of the National Assembly. However, given the current pace, the prevailing view is that it will be inevitable for the budget bill and the audit bill to be reviewed together after next month’s regular session. Experts agree that this is due to the relatively low interest from both ruling and opposition parties in the audit compared to the budget, as well as institutional shortcomings such as not designating a separate review period.

According to the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts on the 24th, a plenary meeting of the committee will be held from the 29th targeting economic and non-economic ministries. The plenary meeting is scheduled until the 5th of next month, reflecting the schedules of the People Power Party and the Democratic Party’s member workshops. Considering that this year’s regular session of the National Assembly begins on September 1, it is virtually confirmed that the audit bill will not be processed by the legal deadline (before the opening of the regular session) again this year.

After the plenary meeting, the Budget and Accounts Committee holds subcommittee meetings for additional discussions, then reconvenes the plenary meeting to finalize the audit review. Considering that subcommittees usually take about 2 to 6 days, the audit review can only be completed before Chuseok at the earliest.

The current National Assembly Act (Article 128-2) stipulates that the audit review must be completed before the opening of the regular session. The intention is to finish the audit before the budget bill is submitted to the National Assembly. However, the audit bill was processed before the regular session only once in 2011, and since then it has been delayed every year. In fact, in 2018, the budget was approved by the plenary session first, followed by the audit. Last year, the audit was processed on December 2, and the budget was processed the next day.

The delay in this year’s audit is largely due to changes such as the replacement of secretaries who negotiate the Budget and Accounts Committee schedule. The ruling People Power Party initially appointed Representative Kim Seong-won as the committee secretary. However, on the 11th of this month, Representative Kim stepped down as secretary after causing a controversy at a flood recovery site. Subsequently, on the 17th, the People Power Party nominated Representative Lee Cheol-gyu as the committee secretary. An opposition party official from the Budget and Accounts Committee explained, “Negotiations were delayed due to issues with the appointment of the ruling party’s secretary.”

More fundamentally, compared to next year’s budget bill, the audit tends to attract relatively less interest. Both lawmakers and the media are more focused on next year’s budget rather than how effectively last year’s taxpayers’ money was spent.

There are also institutional issues. Although the submission timing of the budget bill was advanced through the 2013 revision of the National Finance Act, the audit timing was not separately designated. Currently, the government submits the audit to the National Assembly at the end of May, but the National Assembly does not specify a separate review period.

Woo Won-sik, chairman of the National Assembly’s Budget and Accounts Committee, said, “We tried to meet the legal deadline but could not,” adding, “We will try to expedite the process so that it can be handled before Chuseok.”

The ruling party plans to conduct intensive reviews during the regular session. Yang Geum-hee, spokesperson for the People Power Party floor, said, “The audit review is underway in the standing committees. At this pace, it is faster compared to last year,” and predicted, “It will be processed in plenary sessions in September and October.”

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