Democratic Party of Korea files complaint with Corruption Investigation Office against Yoo Byung-ho and Lee Kwan-seop in 'Daegam Gate' case

Audit General Yoo Byung-ho attended the National Assembly's audit of the Board of Audit and Inspection on the 11th and responded to lawmakers' questions. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] On the 12th, the Democratic Party of Korea filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) against Yoo Byung-ho, Secretary General of the Board of Audit and Inspection, and Lee Gwan-seop, Senior Secretary for National Planning at the Presidential Office, regarding allegations of collusion between the Presidential Office and the Board of Audit and Inspection, known as the 'Daegam Gate.'

Members of the Democratic Party belonging to the party's 'Yoon Seok-yeol Regime Political Oppression Countermeasures Committee' and the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee submitted the complaint to the CIO in the afternoon, accusing them of abuse of power and violation of the Personal Information Protection Act. In the complaint, the Democratic Party emphasized that "the Board of Audit and Inspection conducted targeted audits on the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission and the Korea Communications Commission, and focused audits on public institutions that the People Power Party claimed were 'entrenched personnel'." They also argued that the audit on the West Sea government official killing incident was procedurally illegal as it was initiated without the resolution of the Audit Committee.

Additionally, the Democratic Party raised concerns about the Board of Audit and Inspection's request for train usage data of over 7,000 public officials from Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) and SR, the operator of the Suseo High-Speed Railway (SRT). The party particularly claimed that the Board's demand for data from Kim Je-nam, Chairman of the Nuclear Safety Foundation, and Lee Joo-min, Chairman of the Road Traffic Authority, from their civilian days?both of whom had been pressured by the ruling party to resign?constituted 'civilian surveillance.'

The Democratic Party also explained that text messages exchanged between Secretary General Yoo and Senior Secretary Lee clearly demonstrated political and directive audits. On the 5th, Secretary General Yoo sent a message to Senior Secretary Lee stating, "(Regarding the audit report on the West Sea government official killing incident) Another proper explanatory statement will be released today. The intention is to tell people not to talk nonsense." This message was captured by the media.

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