Democratic Party Holds 'Emergency General Meeting' to Respond to Search and Seizure... National Assembly Audit Temporarily Postponed (Comprehensive)

"Prosecutors' Sudden Search Attempt Makes Normal Audit Impossible"
"Future Response Policy Discussed at Party Meeting"
On the 24th Morning, All Standing Committees Except the Science and ICT Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee Could Not Even Start the Audit

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon, Park Joon-yi] The Democratic Party of Korea immediately reacted on the 24th against the prosecution's renewed attempt to search the Democratic Research Institute, convening an emergency party caucus at 10 a.m. on the same day. The scheduled parliamentary audits by each standing committee at the same time were all temporarily postponed.

On that day, Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, sent a text message to lawmakers stating, "We will hold an emergency party caucus at 10 a.m. on the 24th, so please make sure to attend the meeting." In an earlier notice, he said, "The Yoon Seok-yeol prosecution is attempting to search the central party office again. Key party officials and deputy floor leaders, please gather at the party office immediately," but also added, "Other lawmakers should proceed with the audit as scheduled and remain on standby at the National Assembly until further instructions," so the audit was initially planned to proceed as usual.

However, as the situation escalated in the morning, an emergency party caucus including all lawmakers was convened to discuss future response measures.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Oh Young-hwan, the Democratic Party floor spokesperson, told reporters after the morning supreme council meeting, "The standing committee audits were scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. today, but due to the prosecution's sudden attempt, an emergency party caucus will be held at 10 a.m. to discuss future response plans."

He added, "The Democratic Party has judged that normal parliamentary audits are impossible due to the prosecution's surprise search targeting the opposition party," and said, "We will announce the response plan based on the results of the party caucus."

When asked about a possible 'audit boycott,' he explained, "There has been no decision to boycott all audits," and clarified, "It is a temporary postponement."

The National Assembly inspection of the Ministry of Justice and others, scheduled to be held on the 24th, has not been convened as the Democratic Party urgently called a party meeting in response to the prosecution's search and seizure of the Democratic Party office. Photo by Yoon Do-wook doso7@

On that day, comprehensive audits to conclude the first parliamentary audit of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration were scheduled in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Political Affairs Committee, Planning and Finance Committee, Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, National Defense Committee, Public Administration and Security Committee, Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee, and Environment and Labor Committee. However, due to the Democratic Party's strong opposition to the prosecution's search of the Democratic Research Institute, all standing committee audits except for the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee and Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee were temporarily postponed without even starting on time.

At the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, which was held with only members of the People Power Party present, criticism was directed at the Democratic Party lawmakers who did not attend the audit.

Kim Seok-ki, the People Power Party's secretary of the committee, said, "Currently, the Democratic Party is not attending the audit. We deeply regret the Democratic Party's behavior that is driving the audit into chaos."

Yoon Jae-ok, the People Power Party chair of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, declared, "Today is the day for the comprehensive audit. Until now, the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee has conducted audits more smoothly than any other committee through bipartisan cooperation. On the last day, the Democratic Party is absent. Considering the Democratic Party's caucus situation, we have decided to suspend the audit for now and resume it later," announcing the suspension of the audit.

The Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee audit also broke down just 15 minutes after it began.

Cho Seung-rae, the Democratic Party secretary of the committee, explained, "There was a first search of the Democratic Party central office last week, and today, just before 9 a.m., 17 people including prosecutors, investigators, and others entered the Democratic Party central office without presenting a warrant or any explanation, sneaking in as if they were just visitors, which is an incident of intrusion."

He added, "If law enforcement is to be conducted properly, they should present a warrant and request cooperation based on the warrant, but this is not law enforcement but an intrusion by the prosecution into the central party office, so we have no choice but to respond urgently," and requested a recess.

Democratic Party lawmaker Byun Jae-il also requested a recess, saying, "If we call witnesses and engage in political fights without addressing the essential questions, the public and the media will view it very coldly," and the committee chair Jung Cheong-rae accepted the request, calling for order and declaring a recess.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) attempted a search of the Democratic Research Institute located in the Democratic Party building in Yeouido, Seoul, where Kim Yong, a close aide to party leader Lee, works.

In response, Lee said at the supreme council meeting, "Tomorrow is the president's policy speech, but it is hard to understand the logic of forcibly carrying out another search today," adding, "Politics has disappeared and only domination remains. Morality has vanished and only violence remains."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending an emergency meeting of party members convened to devise countermeasures regarding the prosecution's search and seizure of the central party office on the 24th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

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