Democratic Party: "Do not link the ruling party's demand for a state audit with holding Lee Sang-min accountable"

"National Audit and Budget Approval Depend on the Attitude of People Power Party"

[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Park Jun-i] On the 30th, the Democratic Party of Korea emphasized not to link the responsibility of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min with the parliamentary inquiry into the Itaewon disaster, saying, "How long will you blame the Democratic Party and the opposition party to drive all issues into extreme political conflict?" They added that both the parliamentary inquiry and the budget approval depend entirely on the attitude of the People Power Party.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party, held a press briefing at the National Assembly in the afternoon and said, "A parliamentary inquiry is a parliamentary inquiry," and "No matter what, the parliamentary inquiry must proceed without any setbacks."

Earlier, the People Power Party opened the possibility of boycotting the parliamentary inquiry, claiming that the Democratic Party's attempt to propose a motion to dismiss Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min violated the ruling and opposition agreement of 'parliamentary inquiry after budget approval.'

Floor leader Park criticized, "The ruling party linking all issues together shows they have not yet abandoned the bad habits from their opposition days," and asked, "Are you going to break the promise made again in front of the people?"

He added, "The same goes for the budget." Floor leader Park said, "The National Assembly has the right to review the budget and the duty to process it within the legal deadline," and added, "It is proper for the ruling party to take the lead in persuading the opposition, making efforts to meet the legal deadline, and to reach a smooth agreement by reflecting the opposition's opinions as much as possible."

He continued, "A parliamentary inquiry is a parliamentary inquiry, the budget is the budget, and bill review is bill review. Linking these (holding Minister Lee responsible for the Itaewon disaster) is a highly strategic political response," and urged, "Please come to your senses and show a ruling party-like attitude."

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