Cried "Fukushima 148" ... National Assembly Budget Review Missing 'Patso'

Analysis of Comprehensive Policy Inquiries Over Two Days at the Budget and Accounts Committee
Lawmakers Criticized Last Year's Budget Execution
"A High-Class National Assembly Discussing Science and History" Sarcasm Included

"I thought today’s settlement would involve rigid discussions about numbers, but since it mostly involved talks about science and history, I consider it a high-class National Assembly."

This was the commentary offered by Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, on the first day of the 2022 settlement comprehensive inquiry by the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Special Committee on the 30th of last month. During the two days of comprehensive inquiry starting that day, the ruling and opposition parties fiercely clashed over issues such as Japan’s Fukushima contaminated water discharge, the relocation of General Hong Beom-do’s bust, and the controversy over the Jeong Yul-seong Memorial Park. The settlement, with total revenue of 573.9 trillion won and total expenditure of 559.7 trillion won, was sidelined. Kim sarcastically referred to the Fukushima contaminated water controversy as 'science' and the Hong Beom-do controversy as 'history.'

On the 10th, Asia Economy analyzed the statements made during the comprehensive inquiry of the settlement bill by reviewing the National Assembly minutes and found that the word 'Fukushima' was mentioned 148 times, while 'settlement' was mentioned only 84 times. This was even less than the mentions of Jeong Yul-seong (88 times) and Hong Beom-do (85 times). Words that are naturally expected to be frequently mentioned during settlement reviews, such as execution (76 times), tax revenue (41 times), and administrative correction (29 times), also appeared infrequently.

Members of the People Power Party focused on raising issues such as the controversy over the installation of the memorial park for Jeong Yul-seong, a Chinese revolutionary musician from Gwangju, and responsibility for the Jamboree event, allocating time for government officials including Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to respond. Democratic Party members spent most of their time raising issues related to Fukushima contaminated water, the bust of Hong Beom-do, and allegations of external pressure on the Marine Corps investigation unit commander.

According to the minutes, among the 49 members of the Budget and Accounts Committee who raised questions, several mentioned the settlement, but only Justice Party member Jang Hye-young and proportional representative Lee Soo-jin of the Democratic Party requested government responses related to the settlement review.

Member Jang pointed out the issue that the results of the inspection of the execution status of special activity expenses by the Board of Audit and Inspection were missing from the audit report on the settlement. She said, "In the February work report this year, the government announced it would disclose the inspection results of special activity expenses execution in the settlement report and submit details of violating institutions from the 2021 inspection, but I could not find the inspection results in the settlement report." The Board of Audit and Inspection submits a 'settlement inspection results report' together when the government submits the previous year’s settlement results by May 31 every year. She also raised concerns about the Board of Audit and Inspection, saying, "When I asked about the payment methods of special activity expenses at the Customs Service during last year’s settlement at the Planning and Finance Committee, they answered it was all cash. I have never been told by the Board of Audit and Inspection about this."

Democratic Party member Lee Soo-jin pointed out the actual status of the 'radiation equipment support project for quarantine and inspection stations' related to the Fukushima contaminated water discharge issue. She said, "They said they would introduce 10 units last year, but none were actually introduced," and criticized, "With the contaminated water discharge imminent this year, equipment should have been introduced more actively, but this was not properly executed." She added, "Only five units were introduced this year using the rollover budget from last year, and only one unit was introduced with this year’s budget," and criticized, "The total purchase plan for two years was 20 units, but only six units were purchased. How can the public feel safe consuming seafood under these circumstances?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Although some members addressed settlement issues, their focus was far from pointing out problems in last year’s budget execution. For example, Democratic Party member Yang Kyung-sook criticized the issue of last year’s excess tax revenue, saying, "(The Ministry of Economy and Finance) hid it throughout the Moon Jae-in administration and then suddenly claimed within a week of the Yoon Seok-youl administration’s start that 53 trillion won would be collected as excess tax revenue like a magic wand." Yang focused more on urging the government to prepare a supplementary budget this year than on government responses. Democratic Party member Kim Seung-won mentioned issues with the Ministry of Justice’s rental contracts for official vehicles but focused on problems with the comprehensive audit of government subsidies to private organizations. Some members only formally mentioned settlement issues and then continued with inquiries on current affairs.

There is no regulation that comprehensive policy inquiries must be about settlement issues. However, the problem is that most inquiries have turned into political battles, resulting in a hasty settlement review. The National Assembly’s settlement review is an essential process to accurately understand the results of government budget execution, verify whether the budget was lawfully executed, evaluate project performance, and reflect this in next year’s budget plan. Yet, due to political confrontations, proper settlement reviews are not being conducted.

In particular, as the ruling and opposition parties engage in tense exchanges over political issues, emotional gaps have deepened, leading to sharp remarks. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was the focus of opposition members’ inquiries, responded emotionally with statements such as "I do not acknowledge any of what you said" and "There is a lack of basic courtesy."

The transformation of the comprehensive settlement policy inquiry into a battleground over current issues can be summarized by two main reasons. First, questions related to current issues attract more public attention than proper policy inquiries. Members are inevitably tempted to address topics familiar to the public, especially their supporters, rather than specialized settlement-related questions. The second reason is the markedly low political interest in settlement. Unlike budget reviews for funds to be used next year, settlement reviews look back on already executed budgets, so there is criticism that active settlement reviews are not conducted.

Lee Sang-min, senior expert at the National Fiscal Research Institute, pointed out, "The legislature should carefully review how the national budget was executed over the year, but conducting comprehensive policy inquiries on partisan topics unrelated to the settlement deviates from the essence of settlement review."

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