On October 15, the Democratic Party and the People Power Party engaged in a heated debate during the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit over recent allegations of illegal surveillance during the Moon Jae-in administration.
During the morning session, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Eun-hye called for the testimony of former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi and other officials to clarify the allegations of illegal surveillance raised by her.
Kim Eun-hye opened the discussion by stating, "Last week, during the National Assembly audit of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, we revealed a blacklist document indicating that the Democratic administration attempted to retaliate against civilians who criticized its real estate policies through illegal surveillance. However, we have yet to receive a response regarding the selection of witnesses a week later."
She argued, "We must select Kim Hyun-mi, former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Lee Moon-ki, former head of the Housing and Land Office, and Lee Dong-hwan, head of the Cheongju branch of the Korea Real Estate Agency, as witnesses for the comprehensive audit."
Lawyer Yoo Sang-beom also directed his remarks at Lee Heon-wook, the head of the Korea Real Estate Agency, saying, "This is a significant national issue, yet the Real Estate Agency has not conducted any verification. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has not issued any verification directives either," adding, "We can only interpret this as a lack of willingness to verify the situation."
In response, the Democratic Party accused the People Power Party of attempting to select witnesses for political purposes, stating they would propose Kim Geon-hee, the wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol, as a witness in light of allegations regarding her involvement in personnel manipulation at the Korea Airports Corporation.
Representative Jeon Yong-ki remarked, "If you are going to call former Minister Kim and others based on political conspiracy theories, then we will call Kim Geon-hee regarding the personnel manipulation at the Korea Airports Corporation," adding, "If we only call witnesses with political motives, we will miss out on those necessary for addressing the public's needs."
Representative Kim Nam-kun targeted Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, stating, "There are allegations that he ordered the destruction of a report on the investigation into corruption related to the Han River bus service, despite having directed an audit and received the results. We need to select witnesses such as the head of the audit committee and the chief of staff who reported on the audit results and the investigation request."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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