Ruling party: “Get Kim Tae-gyu out” ... Opposition: “Shield the Blue House” ... Steering Committee audit resumes after disruptions

[Financial News] The National Assembly Steering Committee’s audit of the Presidential Office managed to resume after repeated disruptions. The Democratic Party demanded that Kim Tae-gyu, a People Power Party lawmaker, leave the audit hearing and resign from the committee, taking issue with his various controversial remarks and the committee’s passage of a resolution calling for his expulsion as a result. The People Power Party hit back, accusing the Democratic Party of political maneuvering to “shield” the Blue House.
The Steering Committee conducted an audit of the Presidential Office and other bodies at the National Assembly on the 29th. The committee’s afternoon audit of the Presidential Office alone was disrupted twice that day.
The Democratic Party maintains that Kim Tae-gyu is unqualified to serve on the Steering Committee. It cited both his controversial remark that “Chun Doo-hwan’s actions did not constitute an insurrection” and the recent passage by the committee of a resolution calling for his expulsion over the remark.
As the Democratic Party continued to make this argument, the People Power Party strongly objected, making it difficult to proceed with the meeting and causing one disruption.
The audit later resumed on the understanding that Kim Tae-gyu would make an apology statement and then leave.
Kim Tae-gyu said, “It’s difficult to make an unequivocal apology. I am not the entity being audited here today (the 29th),” and added, “You (the Democratic Party) accuse me of denying the Constitution, but I am working harder than anyone to respect and uphold the Constitution of the Republic of Korea.”
He continued, “You (the Democratic Party) criticize me over remarks such as ‘Owl Rock’ and calling Kim Seung-won, the nominee for minister of justice, ‘menopausal,’ but the root of the problem was the movie ‘Assassin(s)’ from the outset. Democratic Party lawmakers promoted that movie and used it to mount a political offensive against our party, which is why I said what I did.”
Steering Committee Chair Han Byung-do then stopped him, saying, “I gave you the floor for a personal statement because you said you would apologize, but this doesn’t seem like an apology at all.” Loud exchanges between the ruling and opposition parties followed, and the committee’s audit was disrupted once more. Immediately afterward, both sides set out their positions in separate briefings.
Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Joo-hee criticized him, saying, “The Steering Committee is where we review our National Assembly rules and all matters related to the Assembly’s operations, and make and review rules. We audit and investigate entities subject to oversight based on those rules, and the person who should be audited now is Kim Tae-gyu. But the very person who is supposed to be audited is sitting there saying he will conduct an audit.”
The People Power Party characterized the Democratic Party’s attacks on Kim Tae-gyu as an attempt to “shield” the Presidential Office at the Blue House and help it evade the audit.
Kim Seung-soo, the People Power Party’s Steering Committee secretary, claimed, “The Democratic Party is using every means at its disposal to obstruct the audit and prevent it from being held. What the Democratic Party is doing right now is precisely shielding the Blue House.”
He added, “The Democratic Party comes out with all kinds of sophistry, but it all boils down to nitpicking and stalling. This is a scheme to obstruct the audit of the Blue House by dragging it out and then bringing it to an inconclusive end. Our party has no intention of playing along with the Democratic Party’s attempt to use the audit to shield the Blue House.”
Kim Tae-gyu, at the center of the controversy, also stated his position. He said, “Taking issue with my remarks (recently) is ultimately an attempt by ruling party lawmakers to thoroughly shield the Blue House. Seizing on a single remark in this way, causing disruptions and preventing the National Assembly from functioning normally, turns the Assembly into a servant of the administration and the Blue House.”
The Democratic Party and the People Power Party continued further talks, and the audit eventually resumed at around 6:30 p.m.  

[email protected] Kim Hyeong-gu Reporter