Ethics Committee Filing and Calls for Resignation... Seoul Metropolitan Council in Escalating Turmoil

Democratic Party Requests Ethics Committee Investigation for 2 City Councilors
People Power Party Urges Resignation of Democratic Party's Chief Representative

The confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties in the Seoul Metropolitan Council ahead of the regular session on the 1st of next month is intensifying. The Democratic Party of Korea has filed a complaint against members of the People Power Party in the council to the Ethics Special Committee, and in response, the People Power Party is demanding the resignation of the Democratic Party's chief representative. Due to the ongoing conflict between the parties, the chairperson of the Budget and Accounts Special Committee has yet to be elected, raising concerns that Seoul could face a quasi-budget crisis in the worst-case scenario.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Council on the 25th, Im Jong-guk, the senior deputy representative of the Democratic Party in the council, submitted a motion on the 20th requesting an investigation by the Ethics Special Committee into two People Power Party council members.

Im alleges that the two council members made split political donations to local National Assembly members in exchange for nominations, raising suspicions of violations of the Political Funds Act. These two council members are currently under investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), and it is reported that the CIO recently conducted a raid on the National Election Commission to secure accounting records of political donations related to the National Assembly members involved.

The People Power Party immediately pushed back. On the 23rd, Kim Jong-gil, spokesperson for the People Power Party in the Seoul Metropolitan Council, stated in a commentary, "The Democratic Party is maliciously framing the People Power Party with issues unrelated to council agenda items, committing anti-democratic terrorism," and added, "To restore the Seoul Metropolitan Council focused on public welfare, we demand the voluntary resignation of Floor Leader Song Jae-hyuk before the opening of the November regular session."

The Democratic Party rejects the People Power Party's claims. Im said, "The People Power Party says we should wait for the investigation results, but there are cases where members are expelled if the charges are clear even before the investigation concludes," and added, "Instead of demanding the resignation of the opposing party's chief representative, the People Power Party should cooperate in electing the chairperson of the Budget and Accounts Committee to normalize the council."

The Democratic Party has been boycotting council proceedings since October 18 due to the People Power Party's refusal to cooperate in electing the Budget and Accounts Committee chairperson. The issue originated from the Student Human Rights Ordinance. The People Power Party insists that this ordinance should be repealed. However, on October 12, when Lee Seung-mi, a Democratic Party education committee member, declared a recess ahead of the review of the repeal proposal, a scuffle broke out with People Power Party members, and Lee filed a complaint with the police accusing those members of obstructing official duties, escalating the conflict into an emotional confrontation.

Spokesperson Kim said, "Since the positions of the ruling and opposition parties are clearly divided, nothing has been decided regarding the normalization of the council," and added, "The Democratic Party should first participate in the review of the Student Human Rights Ordinance repeal proposal and then cooperate in proceeding with the election of the Budget and Accounts Committee chairperson."

The Seoul Metropolitan Council will begin administrative audits and review the 2024 budget proposal from the 1st of next month until December 22. Since the administrative audit period ends on the 15th of next month, if the ruling and opposition parties fail to elect the Budget and Accounts Committee chairperson by then, the budget review will inevitably be delayed. According to Article 127 of the Local Autonomy Act, the legal deadline for budget approval is "15 days before the start of the fiscal year (January 1)." Accordingly, next year's budget must be approved by December 16 of this year. Failure to approve the budget by this deadline could lead to a 'quasi-budget crisis,' where the previous year's budget is used as a reference for budget allocation.

However, the Democratic Party has stated that it will participate in the administrative audit. Im Gyu-ho, spokesperson for the Democratic Party in the Seoul Metropolitan Council, said, "Looking at next year's Seoul city budget, all budgets for welfare, local economic revitalization, and job projects have been reduced," and added, "Since Mayor Oh Se-hoon has focused on projects to boost his own achievements, we will scrutinize this during the administrative audit."

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