Assembly finance committee adopts Baemin chief as audit witness; PPP's Kim Yong-beom bid fails

The National Assembly's Finance and Economy Planning Committee adopted Kim Beom-seok, chief executive of Woowa Brothers — the operator of food delivery platform Baemin — as a witness for its upcoming national audit.

The committee held a plenary session Monday and, by agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, approved the summons of six general witnesses and four reference witnesses to appear at the audit.

The committee plans to question Kim on the fund-transfer structure to Baemin's overseas parent company and the appropriateness of domestic taxation and withholding. It also intends to call Yoon Gu, president of Google Korea, to address allegations of corporate tax avoidance and tax evasion.

However, Kim Yong-beom, former Cheong Wa Dae policy chief, and Yeo Han-koo, former chief trade negotiator — both sought as witnesses by the People Power Party — were not adopted after the Democratic Party of Korea objected.

Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to hold a second round of consultations on the adoption of additional witnesses and reference witnesses for the national audit.