Ahead of Blue House Audit, Opposition Says "Kim Yong-beom, Kim Hyun-ji Must Appear"; Ruling Party Calls It a "Political Offensive"

Oct. 21: National Assembly Steering Committee holds full meeting
Approves naming current presidential aides as witnesses, among other measures

Ahead of the parliamentary audit of the Blue House, the ruling and opposition parties clashed in a heated exchange over the selection of former and current key presidential aides as witnesses. The People Power Party is calling for former presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik, former policy chief Kim Yong-beom, and First Deputy Chief of Staff Kim Hyun-ji, among others, to attend, while the Democratic Party of Korea has moved to block the requests outright, calling them a “political offensive.”

The National Assembly’s Steering Committee held a full meeting on the morning of Oct. 21 to discuss materials for the parliamentary audit and the selection of witnesses. The committee erupted in a heated dispute over witnesses and testifiers from the outset. The People Power Party raised the possibility of selecting Kim Hye-kyung as a witness, citing delays in the move into the Blue House residence, while the ruling party pushed back, calling it a “far-fetched claim.”

Yoon Yong-geun of the People Power Party said of the proposal to select Kim Hye-kyung: “Was there never a time when the Steering Committee selected the first lady as a witness under the previous administration?” Ruling party lawmakers protested loudly, saying, “Isn’t Kim Keon-hee in prison?” and “Has Kim Hye-kyung ever had any legal problems? This is completely out of line.”

Park Gyuntaek of the Democratic Party of Korea and Kim Minjeon of the People Power Party argue during a full meeting of the National Assembly’s Steering Committee on Oct. 21, 2026. Photo by Yoon Dongju

The opposition is strongly demanding that former and current key aides, including Kim Yong-beom and Kim Hyun-ji, be selected as witnesses for this Blue House audit. It says officials involved in the decisions at the time must attend to address the introduction of single-stock leveraged ETFs and scrutiny of the personnel fiasco. Newly appointed presidential chief of staff Im Kwang-hyun has been in the post for less than a week.

Whether to select Kim Hyun-ji as a witness was also put under scrutiny. She is considered a key figure in the so-called “Seongnam-Gyeonggi” circle. At the end of September last year, ahead of the parliamentary audit, Kim moved from the post of secretary general to chief of the presidential office’s first deputy secretariat. Critics have repeatedly said the move was intended to help her avoid appearing at the audit, given that chiefs of the first deputy secretariat have traditionally not attended.

Choi Eun-seok of the People Power Party said, “Tens of trillions of won in public assets and hundreds of trillions of won in National Pension Service assets have disappeared because of leveraged ETFs, yet we have been unable to bring even one related witness before the audit.” He added, “Why are you mounting such a staunch defense? Make sure former chief Kim Yong-beom and Chief Kim Hyun-ji are called to the audit.”

Meanwhile, the Steering Committee had a disagreement over the date of the Blue House audit but reached an agreement to hold it on Oct. 29. Some have raised the possibility of a boycott. However, People Power Party floor deputy leader Kim Seung-soo said the previous day, “Wouldn’t a boycott benefit only the government and the ruling party?” He added, “We will negotiate until the very end.”

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