National Audit Powder Keg Ignited... Ruling Party: "Merely Saving Lee Jae-myung as a Hostage of Parliamentaryism" (Comprehensive)

Opposition Threatens Forced Passage
But Will Boldly Resist Parliamentary Dictatorship
Discussing National Investigation and Special Prosecution if Investigation Is Inadequate
President Also Faces Jail If Wrongdoing Proven
Lee Representative Says Innocence Impossible

Jung Jin-seok, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is attending the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 10th and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 10th, Jeong Jin-seok, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, attended the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly and delivered opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Koo Chae-eun, Geum Bo-ryeong, Kwon Hyun-ji] The political tension between the ruling and opposition parties over the ‘Itaewon crowd crush disaster state audit’ is escalating to an extreme level. The Democratic Party, which plans to report the request for the state audit to the plenary session this afternoon, intends to persuade the ruling party to participate by the 24th. However, the People Power Party is counterattacking, saying they will ‘stop the Democratic Party’s parliamentary dictatorship.’ It is expected that a major clash between the ruling and opposition parties will occur during the ‘state audit political situation’ continuing until the end of the year.

The ruling party clearly opposed the state audit request submitted the previous day by the Democratic Party, the Justice Party, and the Basic Income Party. On the morning of the 10th, Jeong Jin-seok, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, stated at the party’s emergency committee meeting held at the National Assembly, "The state audit is nothing more than a ‘rescue operation for Lee Jae-myung’ held hostage by parliamentary principles." The day before, Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the People Power Party, also strongly said, "We do not plan to respond to the state audit request."

Regarding the Democratic Party’s plan to submit the state audit request as an agenda item at today’s plenary session, the People Power Party strongly criticized it using terms such as ‘intimidation’ and ‘dictatorship.’ Chairman Jeong emphasized, "The Democratic Party talks about forced processing, but our party will firmly oppose the Democratic Party’s parliamentary dictatorship as we have done so far," adding, "We will expose its unfairness and irrational absurdity to the public and use all means available to us to stop the parliamentary dictatorship." He also clarified that the police are the main investigative body for the ‘Itaewon disaster.’ Chairman Jeong said, "If shortcomings are found in the police investigation, then we can discuss a state audit or special prosecutor at that time."

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the 10th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the 10th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

However, the Democratic Party plans to pass the state audit request and activate an investigative committee composed only of opposition party members if the People Power Party does not cooperate by the plenary session on the 24th. Once the state audit request is reported at this afternoon’s plenary session, the Speaker of the National Assembly can form a special committee or standing committee to conduct the state audit. Negotiating groups that refuse to participate in the state audit can be excluded from the special committee.

However, if the ruling party refuses to participate until the end, questions about the effectiveness of the audit may arise. Without bipartisan agreement, forming the special committee will be difficult, and if the government refuses to submit materials or approve witnesses citing ongoing investigations, it could result in a ‘half-hearted state audit.’ Accordingly, the Democratic Party has left open the possibility of continuing negotiations with the People Power Party until the end. Lee Soo-jin, the Democratic Party’s floor spokesperson, said during a back briefing after the policy coordination meeting, "We will continuously request cooperation from the People Power Party to properly convey what the public wants to know."

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