'Shorts,' 'owl rock,' 'fiscal straw' controversies persist
PPP wages all-out defense while targeting Jo, Han
Democratic Party eyes field audits, full-session reviews to offset numerical disadvantage
The National Assembly's national audit, which began Oct. 6, has passed its halfway point heading into its third week, but critics say sharp scrutiny of government policy has all but vanished, replaced by partisan bickering and inflammatory remarks. Calls are growing for lawmakers to refocus on issues that matter to ordinary citizens as factional tensions reach new heights.
The audit of the second year of the Lee Jae Myung administration is running for 25 days, from Oct. 6 to Oct. 30, covering 846 agencies — 36 more than last year.
When the audit opened, the Democratic Party of Korea pledged to conduct a "people's audit, policy audit and accountability audit," promising to hold the government and ruling party to account. The People Power Party, for its part, vowed to rigorously examine what it called "10 policy failures of the Lee Jae Myung administration," citing real estate and single-stock leveraged ETFs among the examples.
On the ground, however, policy questioning has given way to shouting matches and crude remarks between lawmakers from both sides.
A particularly sharp clash erupted Tuesday at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Constitutional Court, when People Power Party lawmaker Ju Jin-woo drew fire for personal remarks in which he said that after raising concerns about President Lee's "emperor golf," the Democratic Party "collectively hit the meltdown button." Democratic Party lawmakers responded with shouts of "Did Kim Keon Hee put you up to this?" and "How are your Shorts videos coming along?" — setting off a loud commotion in the chamber.
Also on Tuesday, Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae sparked a separate controversy during the Public Administration and Security Committee's audit of Gyeonggi Province, when she described the fire department as "the biggest headache — like a fiscal straw draining resources." Firefighters pushed back, and the backlash quickly spread.
Amid the turbulence, the Democratic Party has adopted a two-track strategy: mounting a broad defensive line against People Power Party attacks while directing concentrated fire at Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon.
Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok appeared Friday on the party's YouTube channel "Minti07" and ratcheted up pressure on the chief justice, saying the party had "begun discussing all options and avenues" for impeachment given "the widespread calls" for it, and that it was "comprehensively compiling the reasons why he has no choice but to resign."
The party has also kept up a daily offensive over allegations that Han's daughter fabricated academic credentials. Lawmaker Kim Moon-su announced at a press conference Thursday that he would file a complaint against Han with the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency.
People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik hit back at a party strategy meeting Friday, warning that "the moment the Democratic Party introduces an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Jo, President Lee will become a lame duck." Han himself took to Facebook to announce legal action, accusing the Democratic Party of "repeating false attacks on my family in the despicable manner of political thugs."
The People Power Party, meanwhile, has yet to land what it calls a decisive blow, and its room to maneuver is constrained by its numerical minority in the Assembly.
Kim Seung-su, the party's senior floor whip, said at the strategy meeting Friday that the audit risked becoming "the worst in history" due to what he described as the Democratic Party's unilateral management of proceedings, deliberate disruption, refusal to subpoena key witnesses, and inadequate document submissions and responses from audited agencies.
A senior People Power Party official said the party was "raising its voice loudly in each standing committee, but the visible impact is shrinking because we are outnumbered." The official said the party planned to "focus on issue-fighting through field audits and comprehensive audits in the remaining period to build broader public resonance."
Justice Party leader Yang Gyeong-gyu offered a broader critique in a KBS Radio interview, saying both sides had become "excessively consumed by political sparring" as factional confrontation deepened, with "shaming and browbeating for political gain happening more than ever before." He said there was "far more to be disappointed about when it comes to the national audit's original purpose and standards."
Looking ahead, the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee is set to summon the heads of the five major banks as witnesses at its Financial Supervisory Service audit Monday, with focused questioning expected on a recent AI hacking incident in the financial sector — shaping up to be one of the defining issues of the audit's third week.
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