[Inside Chodong] 'Uselessness of the National Audit' Argument Surfaces from Day One

The national audit held less than five months after the regime change has, as expected, escalated into a proxy battle between the old and new powers. While it is a good opportunity to pre-verify the new government's policy direction, the emotionally charged disputes between the ruling and opposition parties, involving even the presidential office, led to the 'uselessness of the national audit' rhetoric emerging from the very first day, rather than only at the end as before.

The day before, the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee audit faced disruption right from the start. The Democratic Party, which unilaterally passed a motion to dismiss Foreign Minister Park Jin, demanded his exit from the audit session, prompting opposition from the People Power Party. The situation was similar in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit targeting the Supreme Court and the Court Administration Office. Democratic Party members collectively protested the Board of Audit and Inspection's investigation into the 'West Sea public official shooting incident,' delaying the session by about an hour. In the Public Administration and Security Committee audit, verbal abuse such as "You have no manners" was exchanged, followed by shouting matches.

Starting with the controversy over President Yoon Suk-yeol's overseas remarks and continuing with the Board of Audit and Inspection's investigation of former President Moon Jae-in, it seemed even harder to avoid conflict. However, for citizens who expected a 'livelihood and policy' focused audit, the outcome was inevitably disappointing. The political response to the triple crisis of 'high inflation, high interest rates, and high exchange rates' that began after the COVID-19 crisis ended is moving in a direction contrary to expectations.

This is why the ruling and opposition parties must jointly step up to quickly correct the new government's early missteps. Since its launch, the Yoon administration has rotated its economic team in all directions to tackle high inflation, but ultimately its policy response to the complex crisis has been immature. The government's prediction that consumer prices will peak by October is also likely to be off. Raw material prices continue to soar due to electricity and gas rate hikes and the Ukraine crisis. If the pace of inflation slowdown remains sluggish, the current high inflation countermeasures will need to be rewritten. The effects of the 'executive order governance' repeated for five months due to partisan conflict are also wearing thin.

This is not to say that issues unrelated to livelihoods should be excluded from the audit. For fairness and common sense, someone must step forward to provide clear answers regarding the presidential office relocation, allegations of private recruitment, Kim Geon-hee's thesis plagiarism and false academic credentials, to prevent repeated disputes and conflicts.

However, to quell the 'uselessness of the national audit' rhetoric that surfaced from day one, the audit's focus must be shifted from contentious issues to livelihoods. Even the issues that the ruling and opposition parties are gearing up for are far from the goal of examining the livelihood economy. A recent remark from a corporate government relations officer, "Whether it's Biden or Nalimyeon that matters less than tomorrow's taxi fare, next year's housing prices, and weekend cabbage prices," is surely not lost on the political circles.

As this is the first policy verification opportunity less than half a year after the new government's launch, the National Assembly has an excellent chance to focus on livelihoods. The presidential office and ruling party can revise and supplement policy directions reflecting the changed domestic and international economic conditions since the early days of the administration and seek public understanding. For the Democratic Party, it is also a time to scrutinize the government's livelihood measures, raise questions, and correct mistakes.

The moment the national audit becomes a battleground for political strife rather than verification, the damage falls on the people. Citizens hope and expect that the audit will lay the foundation for the recovery of the livelihood economy. The National Assembly must convey its determination to prioritize livelihoods during the remaining period. Now that the dark tunnel of COVID-19 is finally coming to an end, if the National Assembly sidelines livelihoods, the 'uselessness of the national audit' argument will only intensify. / Bae Kyung-hwan, Deputy Chief of the Political Department

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