Army Headquarters Audit Suspended... Scheduled to Resume in the Afternoon

Among 16 Members of the National Defense Committee, 9 Democratic Party Lawmakers Absent

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The National Assembly's National Defense Committee's audit of the Army Headquarters was convened solely by the ruling party on the morning of the 20th but was soon suspended.

On that day, Lee Heon-seung, chairman of the National Defense Committee from the People Power Party, declared the start of the audit as scheduled at Gyeryongdae in Chungnam, then said, "We should conduct the audit normally, but the Democratic Party requested to change the time to 2 p.m. citing a party caucus and other reasons."

The audit began with 9 out of 16 Democratic Party members absent. People Power Party members raised their voices, saying the audit could not be postponed due to internal Democratic Party circumstances.

Rep. Kim Ki-hyun criticized, "Are members of parties other than the Democratic Party subordinate variables to the Democratic Party's caucus?" and added, "National security and protecting citizens' lives are important; protecting Lee Jae-myung cannot be more important."

While ruling party members continued to criticize the Democratic Party in procedural remarks, news came that the Democratic Party caucus decided not to boycott the audit.

Chairman Lee said, "Standing committees held in the National Assembly can have the Democratic Party return immediately, but considering the travel here, it is difficult to convene in the morning," and added, "We will suspend briefly and resume at 2 p.m."

Accordingly, the National Defense Committee will inspect the Defense University in Nonsan, Chungnam, in the morning and start the Army Headquarters audit in the afternoon. The Democratic Party had previously announced a boycott of the audit in protest of the prosecution's attempt to search the Democratic Research Institute the day before.

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