'Kim turned South Korea into a laboratory'
'Democratic Party must stop shielding Kim Yong-beom'
People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-young on Tuesday renewed her criticism of the government and the ruling party, calling for former Cheong Wa Dae Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom to appear as a witness at the upcoming national audit.
Speaking at a press conference at the National Assembly, Park said the Lee Jae Myung administration "went all-in on protecting Deputy Chief of Staff Kim Hyun-ji last year, and this year is throwing up a human shield to protect former Cheong Wa Dae Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom." She added: "What on earth are they hiding, and who are they trying to protect?"
Park said the Democratic Party had pushed through witness approvals unilaterally at a plenary session of the Assembly's Finance and Economy Committee on Monday. "They steamrolled the vote on witnesses and reference persons for the national audit," she said, adding that the PPP had submitted a total of 43 witness and reference requests, most of which were ignored.
"All 21 witnesses and reference persons I requested — including former Chief Kim — were rejected," she said. "The Democratic Party argued that Kim's appearance as a witness falls under the jurisdiction of the steering committee."
Park said Kim must be summoned to the national audit to answer questions about alleged policy failures. "Former Chief Kim is not simply a presidential aide — he is the person directly responsible for driving the people's livelihoods into ruin," she said. She added that Kim is suspected of having spearheaded the launch of single-stock ETFs tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which she said turned the South Korean stock market into "a casino."
Park also trained her fire on the real estate tax reform package. "The patchwork tax overhaul that has upended the real estate market and threatens to sever the line of family business succession could not have emerged without Kim's approval," she said. She went on to accuse Kim of overseeing the squandering of 194 trillion won ($143 billion) in surplus tax revenue, accumulating 106 trillion won in national debt, and setting aside 104 trillion won for a future response fund that she described as "borrowing with taxpayer money."
"Former Chief Kim is suspected of flooding every policy area with half-baked measures and reckless statements, bringing on the current economic crisis himself," Park said. "By treating not just the presidential policy office but the entire country as a vast laboratory, he has earned the ignominious nickname of 'lab director' rather than policy director."
She said the national audit is the legislature's tool for checking the executive branch under the separation of powers — not a shield for the ruling party to protect the government. "The Democratic Party must stop protecting Kim Yong-beom and respond to the PPP's demand that he be adopted as a witness," she said.
Speaking to reporters, Park said the Democratic Party had pushed through a witness request for Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. "Former Chief Kim drove the economy into the ground and says he won't appear, and the Democratic Party is covering for him," she said. "He should come before the National Assembly, confess his past mistakes and reflect on them."
She added that the Democratic Party was selectively approving witnesses favorable to itself while ignoring reference persons who could be used to scrutinize the government. "I believe that amounts to the Democratic Party forgetting its duty as a member of the legislature," she said.
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