[Useless National Audit]②Just a Loud Scolding... Why Nothing Changes Despite the Turmoil

After Intense Debate, 'Report' Not Adopted
Government Corrective Actions Require Plenary Session Approval Report
Post-Inspection Corrections Difficult to Verify Despite National Audit Criticism
If Report Adoption Delays, Legislative Research Service Cannot Confirm Corrective Actions

The 2022 National Assembly inspection concluded on the 8th with the National Assembly Steering Committee's inspection of the Presidential Office. Although the main inspections took place in October, the inspected agencies and the offices of National Assembly members had been fully engaged in preparation long before that. Through the National Assembly inspection, which is the core of the legislative branch's government oversight, how much has our society improved? Will the inspections involving the National Assembly, government, public institutions, and judiciary end as just a month-long 'commotion'? We explored the issues and possible improvements.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] On the 27th of last month, the National Assembly held a plenary session and adopted the inspection result report of the Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee. Considering that the 2022 inspection by the Industry Committee ended on the 24th, three days before the plenary session, one might think the report was adopted quickly. However, upon closer examination, this report is actually last year's inspection result report. It took a full year after the inspection ended for the report to pass the plenary session.

What is even more surprising is that despite this year's inspection having ended, four standing committees (Science, Technology, Broadcasting and Communications Committee; Education Committee; National Defense Committee; Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee) have yet to adopt last year's inspection result reports. The situation was no different in 2020. Among the 17 standing committees conducting inspections, only 13 adopted result reports. The four committees that did not adopt reports this time were the Education Committee, National Assembly Steering Committee, Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee, and Environment and Labor Committee.

Before the 21st National Assembly, the issue of adopting inspection reports was chronically unresolved. In the 20th National Assembly, two committees did not adopt reports in 2016, one in 2017, three in 2018, and five in 2019.

◆Why is the result report important? The result report, often hundreds of pages long, provides a comprehensive overview of the inspection activities and includes criticisms of the inspected agencies. The core part is the 'correction and handling requests,' which contain demands for improvements based on problems identified during the inspection. These include specific policy directions, personnel action requests, and demands for Board of Audit and Inspection audits.

According to the current 'Act on National Assembly Inspection and Investigation,' the result report, once approved by the plenary session, is sent to the government or the relevant agency. Furthermore, the government and the agency are required to 'promptly handle and report the results to the National Assembly' regarding the correction requests passed by the plenary session.

Typically, government ministries submit a report on corrective actions to the National Assembly within one to two months after the adoption of the inspection result report.

In other words, the real guarantee of implementing the inspection's criticisms is not the members' 'scolding' but the adoption of the result report and the subsequent handling result report. Therefore, if the inspection result report is not adopted by the relevant standing committee and the plenary session, the government's obligation to report on the handling results naturally disappears.

Regarding the delayed or even non-adoption of such an important result report, a staff member from a member's office explained, "There are cases where there are disagreements within the relevant standing committee regarding correction requests such as Board of Audit and Inspection audits after the inspection." They added, "Such issues arise not only between ruling and opposition parties but also among members of the same party, making it difficult to reconcile differences and causing delays."

On the 20th, during the National Assembly inspection of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office held at the National Assembly, Democratic Party lawmakers protested against Kim Do-eup, the chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, for unilaterally conducting the meeting. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

◆Adoption of result reports and actual corrections are separate matters= Even if the inspection result report is adopted, whether the corrections are properly implemented is another issue. The government may respond formally to the inspection correction requests but may not take substantive action. If the same criticisms are repeated, it means the problems are not being resolved.

Even if the result report is adopted by the relevant standing committee, passed through the plenary session, and delivered to the government, and the government submits a handling result report, verifying whether effective measures have been taken on the inspection criticisms is not easy.

In the case of the final accounts audit, there are procedures such as follow-up reports on corrective actions, but for the inspection, there is no official procedure to verify follow-up actions after the result report. According to National Assembly officials, the current operational method is essentially that the member's office that raised the issue monitors it. One official said, "Usually, the member's office checks whether the criticisms have been improved after the inspection, but if the office does not follow up or if the relevant standing committee changes, follow-up inspections are weak in reality."

There is at least one place in the National Assembly that checks follow-up actions: the National Assembly Legislative Research Office. The Legislative Research Office annually prepares a report called 'National Assembly Inspection Issue Analysis' before the inspection, which not only reviews current issues but also evaluates the correction and handling results of the previous year's inspection. Although there is no legal basis, it is the last window through which the National Assembly, aside from members' offices, can verify whether inspection criticisms have been implemented. However, even this has limitations. If the adoption of the inspection result report is delayed, the government's correction result report is also delayed, leaving no physical deadline for the Legislative Research Office to check.

A Legislative Research Office official explained, "If the adoption of the National Assembly inspection result report is delayed, the government's correction result is also delayed, and due to time constraints, the Legislative Research Office cannot evaluate the government's inspection action results." The delay in adopting the inspection result report causes even the Legislative Research Office's follow-up work to be disrupted.

Officials from the Democratic Party of Korea are attaching placards with slogans condemning opposition party suppression before the start of the audit at the National Assembly's inspection of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on the 20th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

There is also criticism that the National Assembly's correction requests are repeatedly made. The fact that the same criticisms arise every year means that institutional improvements are not being made. There is an urgent need for supplementary measures to re-examine whether the government and other inspected agencies have implemented the corrections.

People's Power Party lawmaker Jo Myeong-hee has proposed related legislation. Jo's amendment to the Act on National Assembly Inspection and Investigation includes provisions requiring the government to report results within one month (up to three months) on the National Assembly's correction and handling requests, and if the handling results are insufficient, allowing the National Assembly to impose budgetary or personnel disadvantages on the relevant agency.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.