Former Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Chairperson Lee Jin-sook speaks to reporters after her release on the 4th. Hanmi Ilbo.  

As the first parliamentary audit of the Lee Jae-myung administration begins on the 13th, attention is focused on whether the opposition party will launch a full-scale accountability inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the emergency arrest of former KCC Chairperson Lee Jin-sook. 

With the ruling and opposition parties remaining at a stalemate since the launch of the new administration, they are expected to continue their battle for political dominance during this audit. A high-stakes clash over the "arrest of Lee Jin-sook" is already anticipated at the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee audit. 

The controversy surrounding the police's arrest of the former chairperson is also expected to be a focal point during the Science and ICT Committee audit on the 14th and the Public Administration and Security Committee audit on the 17th. 

Although former Chairperson Lee was released through a review of the legality of her arrest after being detained just before the Chuseok holiday, the People Power Party is blaming the police for overreaching, while the Democratic Party appears to be shifting its focus toward the judiciary. 

Notably, the police have replaced the official in charge of the investigation into the former chairperson as part of a regular personnel reshuffle. 

On the 10th, the Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station announced that the head of the Investigation Division 2, who led the investigation, was transferred to the Seoul Jungbu Police Station in the second-half regular reshuffle. A superintendent-level officer from the Seoul Nowon Police Station has been appointed to the vacant position.

The police plan to review the case records related to the former chairperson over the weekend before deciding whether to issue an additional summons. However, it is reported that there is little chance of a summons being issued over the weekend. 

Former KCC Chairperson Lee Jin-sook speaks as she enters the Seoul Southern District Court on the afternoon of the 4th to undergo a review of the legality of her arrest. Yonhap News. Lee’s attorney, Lim Moo-young, warned on Facebook that day, "If the third summons is deemed a mere formality, we plan to file a complaint for abuse of power." 

He stated that the former chairperson intends to comply with any summons, adding, "We are actually awaiting the summons to challenge the false issuance of attendance requests, false claims regarding the statute of limitations, defamation of defense counsel, and the circumstances leading to the three separate requests for arrest warrants." 

The situation regarding the police summons is closely linked to her attendance at the National Assembly. The Assembly is already signaling controversy over her presence. Initially, the ruling and opposition parties selected the former chairperson as a witness in her capacity as a government agency head. However, with the implementation of the act establishing the Broadcasting, Media, and Communications Committee—which replaces the KCC—it is now a point of contention whether she will testify as a private citizen rather than a public official. 

According to Yonhap News, a Democratic Party official on the Science and ICT Committee said, "She has already been selected as a witness, and her attendance is a matter of principle unless the committee chair approves a statement of absence."

However, the People Power Party argues that since the former chairperson has already been removed from her position as KCC chair, there is no significant need for her to attend, setting the stage for a power struggle.

A People Power Party official on the Science and ICT Committee told Yonhap News, "She was called as a government agency witness while she was still the KCC chair. For the Democratic Party to insist on calling her as a witness now that they have abolished the KCC is beyond comprehension." 

On the 10th, three days before the first parliamentary audit of the Lee Jae-myung administration, papers indicating agency names are posted in the waiting area outside the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, as staff from audited agencies like the Prosecutors' Office reserve their seats. Yonhap News. Beyond this, the ruling and opposition parties are bracing for a fierce, no-holds-barred battle as they shift the stage to the parliamentary audit ahead of next June's local elections. 

While the People Power Party is determined to expose the failures of the Lee Jae-myung administration, claiming that public livelihoods have been neglected due to the ruling camp's false accusations of insurrection, the Democratic Party is resolved to use this audit as a catalyst for what it calls the "complete eradication of insurrection." 

In addition to the case of the former chairperson, the parliamentary audit is expected to see intensifying frame battles over the attendance of witnesses such as Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and Presidential Office Secretary Kim Hyun-ji. 

Editorial Department