[Exclusive] Constitutional Court, Opposition Party's Stance "Audit Board Act Amendment Possibly Unconstitutional"

Official Response Released for the First Time
"Unconstitutionality Risk in Deleting Presidential Appointment Authority
Inspection Plan Submitted to and Approved by National Assembly Standing Committee
Audit Office's Neutrality and Independence Undermined"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The Constitutional Court has officially responded that the “Amendment to the Board of Audit and Inspection Act,” which the Democratic Party of Korea is pushing as a party policy, "has the potential to be unconstitutional." The amendment, proposed by Democratic Party lawmaker Shin Jeong-hoon, includes submitting an inspection plan to the relevant standing committee of the National Assembly for approval and changing the appointment authority of Board of Audit and Inspection officials from the President to the Chairperson of the Board. This is the first time the Constitutional Court has expressed its position on this matter.

According to the response received by Kim Do-eup, chairman of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee and a member of the People Power Party, on the 22nd, the Constitutional Court stated regarding the amendment that changes the appointment authority of Board of Audit and Inspection officials (senior audit officials and grade 4 or higher) from the President to the Chairperson of the Board, "When a specific case is filed, the court must express its opinion through judicial review," but also noted, "Considering the constitutional provision (Article 97) that places the Board of Audit and Inspection under the President, there is an opinion that deleting the President’s appointment authority has the potential to be unconstitutional."

Regarding the amendment that requires submitting an inspection plan to the relevant standing committee of the National Assembly for approval when the Board of Audit and Inspection initiates a special audit, the court responded, "While there is an opinion that this is necessary to prevent excessive abuse of power and political misuse by the Board, there is also an opinion that it destroys the constitutional framework and seriously undermines the political neutrality and operational independence of the Board." This is interpreted as maintaining a neutral stance while emphasizing negative evaluations.

A current researcher at the Constitutional Court argued about the amendment, "Even non-lawyers can think it is unconstitutional to this extent," and claimed, "It is a law that denies the constitutional provisions themselves."

As the Democratic Party is pushing the amendment as a party policy and the unconstitutionality claim has been officially raised, significant turmoil is expected during the bill’s discussion process. The Board of Audit and Inspection is currently conducting audits on the 2019 repatriation of North Korean fishermen, the 2020 West Sea public official killing incident, last year’s COVID-19 vaccine supply delays, and the March presidential election’s basket voting.

Chairman Kim criticized, "The Democratic Party is pushing for the amendment to cover up their own misconduct and mistakes," adding, "This is clearly an act of trampling the Constitution for political purposes."

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