National audit enters second week as ruling, opposition parties clash over police reform, housing

Ruling and opposition lawmakers clashed sharply as the national audit entered its second week, trading accusations over allegations of targeted audits by the Board of Audit and Inspection, prosecutorial and police reform, and the government's real estate supply policy.

The opposition focused its fire on the political neutrality of the police and the government's housing supply record, while the ruling party raised allegations of politically motivated investigations tied to past administrations and pressed authorities to do more to expand housing supply.

The National Assembly conducted audits across 12 standing committees on Monday, including the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Administration and Security Committee, the Land and Infrastructure Committee, the National Defense Committee, the Agriculture, Food, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Committee, the Industry, Trade, Resources, SMEs and Startups Committee, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee and the Education Committee.

The most closely watched session was the Administration and Security Committee's audit of the Korean National Police Agency, where the abolition of the Prosecution Service and the launch of a new Serious Crime Investigation Agency and a separate Public Prosecution Office emerged as central issues. Lawmakers sparred over concerns about a case backlog under the restructured investigative system, the political neutrality of the police and allegations of shoddy investigations.

The People Power Party pressed hard on the question of political neutrality amid the expansion of police authority. The party particularly raised allegations of politically motivated policing after PPP lawmaker Kim Jae-seop was summoned by police and questioned for an extended period on Tuesday.

PPP lawmaker Kwon Young-jin alleged that the Korean National Police Agency had submitted different documents to Cheong Wa Dae and to the National Assembly. "The materials the agency reported to Cheong Wa Dae and those submitted to the Assembly do not match," he said.

Kwon said he had requested the original data related to a Sept. 29 "daily situation report" that President Lee Jae Myung had posted on SNS, but the agency instead provided voice-phishing crime statistics dated Sept. 7. "Either the agency submitted false documents, or it reported information nearly a month out of date to the president," he said.

He added that the agency had also said it had no briefing materials related to the special prosecutor investigation into the National Election Commission. "Doesn't that raise suspicions that the special prosecutor is reporting to and receiving instructions from Cheong Wa Dae?" he said, urging the agency to submit the relevant documents by Monday morning.

The Democratic Party of Korea, by contrast, emphasized the principle of separating investigation from indictment as the cornerstone of prosecutorial reform, and called for strengthening the police's investigative capacity alongside internal reform. The party argued that under the new criminal justice framework, police authority must be kept in check while any gap in investigative coverage is minimized.

Allegations also surfaced over the suppression of an investigation into claims that Han Dong-hoon, now an independent lawmaker, had fabricated his daughter's academic credentials. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-bae said the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency had requested international criminal justice cooperation in November 2022, but the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office notified police in December of that year that it would not forward the case. "The Seoul Central District Prosecutors chief at the time was Prosecutor General Song Kyung-ho, who was appointed immediately after Han took office as minister of justice," Kim said.

"There is no choice but to suspect that an investigation involving a sitting minister of justice was suppressed," Kim said, adding that the episode was "clear evidence that the police failed to properly investigate those in power."

At the Land and Infrastructure Committee's audit of Korea Land and Housing Corporation, debate over the government's real estate supply policy ran hot. PPP lawmaker Jung Hee-yong said LH's housing construction starts this year had reached only 23.4 percent of its target, and that 209,000 units nationwide had received project approval but had yet to break ground.

Criticism also emerged over LH providing preferential in-house loans to its own employees while the government tightens mortgage regulations for the general public. The fact that LH President Lee Seong-hun had owned three homes while serving as a presidential secretary for land and transportation affairs also drew scrutiny. "This is a textbook case of a double standard — lenient toward oneself and insiders, strict toward ordinary people," Jung said.

The Democratic Party urged LH to draw up measures to expand housing supply, including by making use of unsold land the corporation holds. Democratic Party lawmaker Ahn Tae-jun said LH should actively identify among its unsold sites those where quasi-housing such as officetels or urban-type residential units could be built. "Housing supply is what LH must stake everything on. Start by determining which of the unsold sites you hold can accommodate quasi-housing," he said.

At the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Board of Audit and Inspection, allegations that the Yoon Suk Yeol administration had conducted targeted and coercive audits aimed at the Moon Jae-in government took center stage.

Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Kim Ho-cheol said in his opening remarks that the agency had reviewed audit cases at the center of targeted and coercive audit controversies, and had pursued institutional reforms including the abolition of its special investigation bureau and the strengthening of internal controls. "Procedures to hold those responsible strictly accountable are under way," he said.

His remarks came as audit commissioner Yoo Byung-ho remains in detention on charges of suppressing an audit into the relocation of former President Yoon's official residence, with proceedings to establish accountability and reform practices surrounding past audit controversies still ongoing.

Kim presented "audits trusted by the people, a Board of Audit and Inspection that stands upright" as the agency's new operating philosophy. "We are shifting the overall paradigm of audit operations toward enhancing the welfare of the people — the ultimate beneficiaries of audits — and are reorienting all audit work around the public," he said.

Elsewhere, the Agriculture, Food, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Committee audited the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Korea Ocean Business Corporation, while the Industry, Trade, Resources, SMEs and Startups Committee examined KOTRA and Korea Trade Insurance Corporation. The National Defense Committee audited the Military Manpower Administration, the Education Committee reviewed the Academy of Korean Studies and the Northeast Asian History Foundation, and the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee scrutinized the Korea Creative Content Agency, the National Institute of Korean Language and the Korean Film Council.