2026 National Assembly Audit Reaches the Halfway Point: Between Policy Scrutiny and a ‘Shorts’-Driven Audit

[Financial News] With the National Assembly’s annual audit of government offices past the halfway point, the ruling and opposition parties continue to clash over issues including a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae’s refusal to resubmit a Supreme Court justice nominee, and mega-projects. While some have criticized it as a “Shorts-driven audit” that appeals to hardline supporters through inflammatory remarks such as “If I were you, I’d kill myself” (Rep. Park Ji-won of the Democratic Party of Korea) and “Did you get scratched at Owl Rock?” (Rep. Kim Tae-gyu of the People Power Party), some cases have been praised as models of policy-focused audits for subjecting government policies to searching scrutiny.
According to the National Assembly on the 15th, the 2026 audit of government offices reached the halfway point as its second week entered its final stages. The opposition continued its vigorous attacks as key issues emerged: Chief Justice Cho’s refusal to resubmit a Supreme Court justice nominee at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the DMZ landmine explosion at the National Defense Committee, and real estate policy at the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee.
Every year, partisan political strife between the ruling and opposition parties has drawn more attention during the audit of government offices than checks and scrutiny of government policies, and this year appears to be little different. On the 6th, the first day of the audit, the parties clashed fiercely over whether Chief Justice Cho would appear as an ordinary witness. That same day, the opposition strongly protested after police summoned Rep. Kim Jae-seop of the People Power Party. On the 12th, a motion to recuse Rep. Lee Jin-sook of the People Power Party passed during the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee’s audit. On the 14th, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee’s audit was thrown into disarray over whether to call the production team of the film “Assassin(s)” as witnesses.
Loud exchanges and abusive language from both sides also drew attention during the audit. After Rep. Kim Tae-gyu of the People Power Party made a remark involving “Owl Rock,” Rep. Park Eun-jung of the Rebuilding Korea Party said, “Be a human being,” while Rep. Kim Yong-min of the Democratic Party of Korea said, “You have never once been a human being,” among other barbed exchanges. The confrontation spilled beyond the audit chamber into a tit-for-tat battle of lawsuits and criminal complaints, as well as referrals to the Special Committee on Ethics. Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok again mentioned pursuing legislation to suspend members of the National Assembly from their positions.
Another notable feature of this year’s audit was the effort to limit the number of witnesses, including celebrities and heads of major conglomerates. The opposition argued that testimony was needed from people including Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won regarding allegations of companies being “arm-twisted” over the creation of a semiconductor cluster in Honam. But the ruling camp rejected the request, and they were not called as witnesses. Discussions about calling business leaders as witnesses are under way ahead of the comprehensive audit, but the ruling camp’s position remains that their numbers should be kept to a minimum.
The opposition, however, says it is necessary to call witnesses including former policy chief Kim Yong-beom, former chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik, and Chief of the First Auxiliary Office Kim Hyun-ji to investigate the Lee Jae-myung administration’s Seongnam-Gyeonggi line and single-stock leveraged ETFs, among other issues. The Democratic Party of Korea has not accepted the request. The controversy is expected to continue until the National Assembly Steering Committee’s audit, which will be held toward the end of the audit period.
[email protected] Lee Hae-ram Reporter