The parliamentary audit of the second year of the Lee Jae-myung administration passed its midpoint on the 19th and entered its second half. Confrontation over housing policy and responsibility for introducing single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds, compounded by calls to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de, is intensifying the clash between the ruling and opposition parties. At the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee audit of the Seoul city government and Gyeonggi Province on the same day, confrontation is expected over allegations surrounding the Han River bus project and Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae's remark comparing fire services to a "straw" draining the budget.
The National Assembly's land committee split into separate inspection teams to audit the Seoul city government and Gyeonggi Province on the same day. At the Seoul audit, scrutiny of Mayor Oh Se-hoon's policies on real estate and development projects is expected to be fierce. In particular, a clash is anticipated over responsibility for housing supply and rising home prices. The Democratic Party of Korea plans to question the city's policy response, citing a decline in housing supply during Oh's tenure. The People Power Party, by contrast, is expected to criticize the government's Oct. 15 housing measures and counter by pinning responsibility on the administration.
The Han River bus service, a signature project of Oh's, is also a focus of scrutiny. The Democratic Party previously alleged that a senior official at the Seoul Housing & Urban Development Corporation received kickbacks during the selection of a shipbuilder, and plans to press the city on whether its follow-up steps were adequate.
The Seoul city government says Oh last year instructed officials to request an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection and to prepare a referral to investigators at the same time. At the Public Administration and Security Committee audit on the 15th of this month, Oh said the city's audit commission was investigating after the request to the Board of Audit and Inspection was dismissed, and that the city would refer the case to investigators if necessary. Ruling party questioning is expected to continue on both the substance of the allegations and the city's handling of the inquiry and response.
At the Gyeonggi Province audit, an offensive by the People Power Party targeting Choo's "fire straw" remark is expected. Choo drew criticism at the Public Administration and Security Committee audit on the 13th for describing fire services in terms of a fiscal burden. She later visited the funeral hall of a firefighter who died in a factory fire in Bucheon and apologized, but the People Power Party has questioned the sincerity of the apology and is demanding her resignation.
Housing and transport policy and the province's fiscal management are also key issues. Questioning is expected on matters including the effect of designating land transaction permit zones on the property market.
The Legislation and Judiciary Committee is auditing the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the same day. With Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok formally raising the question of impeaching the chief justice, the judiciary committee is expected to see continued sparring over the judiciary separately from current agenda items. The Democratic Party has taken issue with prolonged vacancies on the Supreme Court bench, wine purchases using business promotion funds and bonus payments to Supreme Court justices. The People Power Party has pushed back, calling it pressure on the judiciary aimed at blocking the resumption of the president's trial.
At the National Policy Committee's audit of the Financial Supervisory Service, hacking incidents in the financial sector and supervisory responsibility over ETFs will come under scrutiny. The chief executives of the five largest banks are scheduled to appear together as witnesses. It is the first time in four years, since 2022, that they have taken the witness stand together at a parliamentary audit. The ruling and opposition parties plan to question security investment, vulnerability management and management's responsibility for internal controls in connection with a series of recent data leaks at financial firms. Questioning is also expected on mis-selling of ETFs, investor protection measures and household loan management.