[2022 National Audit] Legislation Committee Clashes Over 'Pickets' Before Start... 50-Minute Delay

'Stop Political Oppression' VS 'People's Livelihood Audit' Ruling and Opposition Parties Clash

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the 4th, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit was delayed by more than 50 minutes as the opposition party, holding placards reading 'Stop Political Oppression,' clashed head-on with the ruling party, which emphasized a 'People's Livelihood Audit.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On that day, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee was scheduled to start the Supreme Court audit at 10 a.m., but it faced a crisis of disruption even before the audit began. Democratic Party lawmakers displayed placards on their seats that read 'Stop Political Oppression,' while the People Power Party protested this and emphasized the 'People's Livelihood Audit.' The committee's audit was delayed for more than 30 minutes before Chairman Kim Do-eup intervened to mediate.

Chairman Kim said, "Democratic Party lawmakers are holding placards saying 'Stop Political Oppression,' but I do not understand how this relates to today's Supreme Court audit."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "People Power Party lawmakers also displayed placards saying 'Let's have a People's Livelihood Audit.' Last year, when similar placard protests occurred in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, former Chairman Park Kwang-on pointed out that it violated the National Assembly Act, and the meeting could not proceed." He continued, "The Supreme Court audit has not yet officially started, so I hope that the audit will properly address the criticisms and requests that the ruling and opposition party floor leaders want to raise regarding the Supreme Court."

The committee's audit began only after another 20 minutes. After Chairman Kim said, "I hope the floor leaders of both parties quickly resolve this and that a proper audit will take place. I will wait without starting the session until the floor leaders finish their discussions," both parties removed all placards from the audit hall before the audit commenced.

On that day, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee began the audit with the Supreme Court and will proceed with audits of the Ministry of Justice on the 6th, the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (Gong-su-cheo) on the 13th, the Constitutional Court on the 17th, and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 20th. It is expected that the ruling and opposition parties will clash over issues including the 'Prosecutorial Reform' law, the prosecution investigations surrounding Representative Lee Jae-myung and First Lady Kim Geon-hee, and the Board of Audit and Inspection's written investigation notice regarding former President Moon Jae-in.

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