Collision during audit. Yonhap News TV video GIF. 

Ruling and opposition lawmakers clash during parliamentary audit [Provided by Yonhap News TV]

The first parliamentary audit of the presidential office under the Lee Jae-myung administration by the National Assembly's Steering Committee on the 6th was repeatedly disrupted due to fierce clashes between the ruling and opposition parties from the outset over issues such as the attendance of Kim Hyun-ji, the head of the First Administrative Office.

Following a morning recess, physical altercations occurred between ruling and opposition lawmakers during their departure. In the afternoon, heated arguments over the issue of Director Kim's attendance continued, with shouting matches never ceasing, leading to a second suspension of the audit.

The People Power Party launched an offensive, raising various suspicions regarding Director Kim, who was absent as a witness at the audit.

People Power Party lawmaker Park Chung-kwon asserted that suspicions included ▲ the execution of the presidential office's special activities fund, ▲ exchanges with the Dongbu Alliance of Gyeonggi, ▲ involvement in legal proceedings related to President Lee, and ▲ interference in personnel appointments, demanding Director Kim's attendance as a witness.

Lawmaker Park stated, "Whenever Director Kim's name comes up, Democratic Party lawmakers rush to her defense. This kind of attempt to hide things is what leads to talk of 'all things leading to Hyun-ji,' 'supreme dignity,' and 'shadow power broker.' That's why she's referred to as Madam Kim Hyun-ji. Is she above Madam Kim Hye-kyung?"

In response, Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Yong-gi argued, "They bring up cases that were concluded long ago and claim, 'There's a problem,' 'It's wrong,' 'They're a criminal.' When all attempts to demonize President Lee using political prosecutors failed, it seems they are now resorting to demonizing Director Kim."

Kang Hoon-sik, the Senior Secretary to the President for Political Affairs, stated, "We are here as witnesses, not as suspects. From my perspective, [Director Kim] is just one of 50 aides and is being excessively attacked. I hesitate to say more, for fear it might be seen as me stepping in to protect her."

Senior Secretary Kang also had a heated exchange with People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo.

Lawmaker Joo questioned Senior Secretary Kang, "During the trial, it was mentioned that Kim Yong's (former Vice Director of the Democratic Research Institute) lawyer sent an arrest warrant for Director Kim Hyun-ji to Kim Yong. Did you ever ask Kim Director if she received an arrest warrant?"

When Senior Secretary Kang replied, "I don't know what this has to do with the parliamentary audit. She did not receive it," Lawmaker Joo pressed, "Did you directly confirm with Kim Hyun-ji?" Senior Secretary Kang raised his voice, saying, "Why would I go to Kim Hyun-ji to confirm? She's not some influential figure. Everything is reported to the Senior Secretary to the President."

When Lawmaker Joo brought up a message sent by former Vice Director Kim Yong to two individuals from the Lee Jae-myung presidential campaign, who were indicted on charges of instigating perjury, stating, "'Meet Kim H.J. and consult'," and asked, "Who do you think 'Kim H.J.' is?", Senior Secretary Kang retorted, "Throughout the audit, you have only talked about Director Kim and President Lee. I don't think you can cover up your relationship with Madam Kim Keon-hee and the Chae Hae-byeong incident by doing so." This was a counter-attack, referencing Lawmaker Joo's past as a legal secretary in the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

Immediately after these exchanges, the ruling and opposition parties engaged in a second disruption of the audit over an SNS post made by Lawmaker Joo during the audit.

Lawmaker Joo wrote on his Facebook that 'Kim Hyun-ji is higher in the power hierarchy than Minority Leader Kim Byung-ki.' Kim Byung-ki, the chairman of the Steering Committee and Minority Leader, stated, "This is a jab (mockery) implying that I am powerless because Director Kim is a figure of power." He added, "Should the chairman have to endure this kind of treatment from committee members?" and declared a recess.

The Steering Committee was also disrupted in the morning for 59 minutes after its commencement due to arguments over Director Kim's attendance.

During the group withdrawal of ruling and opposition lawmakers from the audit room, a physical confrontation, described as a "battering ram" (배치기), occurred between People Power Party Floor Leader Song Eon-seok and Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Ki-heon.

Kim Byung-ki, Chairman of the National Assembly Steering Committee, is seen leaving the session after declaring a recess due to continued shouting from lawmakers during the parliamentary audit of the Presidential Secretariat, National Security Office, and Presidential Security Service held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 6th. Yonhap News. 

The ruling and opposition parties also offered differing evaluations of the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiation results, which were a key agenda item for the audit.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-keun said, "While there can be various evaluations, foreign media assessments seem quite positive. There are evaluations that the negotiations were better than those with Japan, and that despite a difficult process, unexpected results were achieved after a tight tug-of-war."

People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-min argued, "The European Union (EU) blocked private companies from investing, and Japan blocked government investments. Why did we include both government and private investments? The negotiations were swayed by agreeing to a figure of $350 billion (approximately 350 trillion won) without detailed consultation on the investment breakdown."

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