Lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea and other parties in the ruling bloc on the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee said the Constitutional Court's ruling on the recusal of People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-sook from the parliamentary audit "maintained her recusal on conflict-of-interest matters," urging the opposition party not to distort the ruling's intent. They stressed that while the court partially suspended the restriction on her participation in the audit, it kept the recusal in place for work she directly handled while serving as chair of the Korea Communications Commission and for complaints filed against her.
Members of the committee from the Democratic Party, the Rebuilding Korea Party and independents held a joint press conference at the National Assembly on the 22nd, saying the court "maintained the recusal covering the work and decisions Lee Jin-sook was directly involved in as chair of the Korea Communications Commission." They added that the court "took seriously the fairness problem that arises when a lawmaker audits work she herself carried out."
"The People Power Party and Lee are highlighting only the fact that the restriction on her audit participation was partially suspended, and are promoting it as a political victory," they said. "They are conveying only part of the ruling to the public while ignoring the scope of the recusal that was maintained and the reasons for it."
The lawmakers rejected the interpretation that the ruling allows Lee to return to the parliamentary audit. Han Jun-ho of the Democratic Party told reporters after the press conference that Lee "has never been thrown out of the audit room or removed from her position in the audit," stressing that "the term 'return' itself does not apply."
Han said the committee had "recognized her authority as a committee member from the start, but repeatedly asked her to step aside on matters she had decided as chair of the Korea Communications Commission because of the conflict of interest." He said the committee "voted to recuse her on those matters because she did not step aside herself." He added that the court "clearly defined the scope of recusal in this ruling and accepted what we had argued."
The ruling-bloc committee members listed four categories of matters on which Lee's audit participation is restricted under the ruling: the operation of institutions and the work and decisions she was involved in while serving as chair of the Korea Communications Commission; the recommendation of KBS board members, the appointment of Foundation for Broadcast Culture board members and the consent to the appointment of the EBS president under the two-member commission; a complaint accusing her of perjury during a parliamentary audit; and a complaint accusing her of breach of trust over corporate card use while she was president of Daejeon MBC.
Lee Ju-hee of the Democratic Party said matters in which Lee "was involved in work and decision-making during her term as chair of the Korea Communications Commission could cover a wide range of duties, not just items on which she clearly took part in a vote." She said the court "left room for matters to fall outside the scope of recusal, but how broad that range is remains difficult to interpret," adding that Lee "must be careful in her questioning so as not to fall under grounds for recusal."
Kim Hyun of the Democratic Party said Lee took part in a total of 77 deliberations and votes during her term as chair of the Korea Communications Commission. "These include the appointment of KBS board members and Foundation for Broadcast Culture board members, and personnel decisions on the president of the Korea Broadcast Advertising Corp. and the chair of the Korea Communications Viewer Media Foundation," Kim said. "We will closely review the remaining deliberation and voting items and re-examine the scope of recusal."
The Democratic Party also stressed that the court found there was considerable room to recognize grounds for recusal on matters tied to Lee's legal liability or in which she is directly a party to the controversy. The party said the intent of the court's reasoning is that even if she participates in audits of such matters and is ultimately ruled subject to recusal, the fairness of the parliamentary audit would already have been damaged beyond repair.
Choi Hyuk-jin, an independent lawmaker, said rulings on conflicts of interest in public office "involve judgments on position as well as on individual matters." He said this ruling "focused on questioning about individual matters, but had the court also been asked to rule on conflicts of interest arising from her position, I believe it would have required recusal on every matter in which the position of commission chair could serve as a means of hierarchy and pressure." He criticized the People Power Party and Lee for "deceiving the public by reading the ruling upside down."
The lawmakers said they "will not condone attempts to take part in matters subject to recusal" and will "respond firmly to any distortion of the court's ruling or spreading of false information."