Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee: Ruling and Opposition Parties Fail in Behind-the-Scenes Talks on Selecting Parliamentary Audit Witnesses and Reference Witnesses; Plenary Session Canceled

[Financial News] The ruling and opposition parties failed on the 21st to agree on the list of witnesses and reference witnesses to be summoned for the National Assembly audit by the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee. As a result, the committee's plenary session scheduled for that day was canceled. Tensions between the two parties over plans to build a Honam semiconductor cluster appear to be continuing.
The committee had originally planned to hold a plenary session that day to approve the National Assembly audit implementation plan and the selection of witnesses and reference witnesses. It also planned to discuss the adoption of the personnel hearing report for Lee So-young, the nominee for minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, who underwent a confirmation hearing on the 15th.
However, Jang Chul-min of the Democratic Party of Korea and Gu Ja-geun of the People Power Party, the committee's secretaries from the ruling and opposition parties, respectively, failed to agree on the list of National Assembly audit witnesses during pre-meeting talks held just before the plenary session. The session was subsequently canceled.
The dispute centered on the Honam semiconductor cluster. The People Power Party planned to request that Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, and former Cheong Wa Dae policy chief Kim Yong-beom be summoned as witnesses regarding investment in the Honam semiconductor cluster. However, anticipating that the Democratic Party of Korea would oppose the request, the party reportedly argued that other witnesses it had requested should be selected instead.
Ultimately, the ruling and opposition parties failed to finalize the list of witnesses and reference witnesses, causing the meeting to fall through. The committee is therefore expected to continue negotiations on the matter at a plenary session on the 22nd, when it will receive a report on progress regarding $350 billion in investment in the United States.  
[email protected] Kim Hyung-gu Reporter