2023-10-13 12:06:00
Choi Jae-hae, Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, is answering questions from lawmakers during the National Assembly audit of the Board of Audit and Inspection of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 13th./News 1
Regarding the controversy in the process of releasing the audit report on former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Chairman Jeon Hyun-hee during the National Assembly audit on the 13th, Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection Choi Jae-hae said, “There were some errors in the internal process that were not faithful to the law and principles,” and “As the Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, I apologize.” He said.
Chairman Jeon’s audit report was released last June. Auditor Cho Eun-seok, who was appointed by the Moon Jae-in administration, was the presiding judge in this case. When the audit report was made public, Auditor Cho claimed that it was illegal, saying that the report was made public without his inspection or approval. Accordingly, Chairman Jeon reported Director Choi and Secretary General Yoo Byung-ho to the High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Office (Corruption Investigation Office), and an investigation is underway. After conducting its own inspection, the Board of Audit and Inspection requested the prosecution to investigate Audit Committee member Cho on charges of leaking secrets while performing official duties.
Director Choi expressed regret over this incident, but said that the ‘fault of not being faithful to the law and principles’ lies with Audit Committee member Cho. In response to the question, ‘Who was not faithful to the law and principles?’, he said, “The expression that it was against the law and principles is an expression written in reference to the conduct of the referee.” The purpose is that since Audit Committee member Cho intentionally refused to view and approve Chairman Jeon’s audit report, making it impossible to proceed with the report disclosure process, there was no choice but to take computerized measures to skip this process.
Director Choi said, “Regarding the audit of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, I have strong suspicions that (Audit Chairman Cho) acted as Chairman Jeon’s lawyer from beginning to end,” and added, “It is difficult to accept Chairman Cho’s behavior.” The purpose is that Audit Committee member Cho interfered with the audit by covering up Chairman Jeon’s misconduct rather than confirming it.
Chairman Choi Jae-hae (right) of the Board of Audit and Inspection is responding to the National Assembly’s audit of government affairs on the 13th. Audit committee member Cho Eun-seok (left) is listening to Director Choi’s answer. Director Choi and Audit Committee member Cho are in conflict over whether the procedures for disclosing the audit report of former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission chairman Jeon Hyun-hee are illegal./News 1
Representatives of the Democratic Party of Korea poured out criticism in response to Director Choi’s remarks. The Democratic Party’s position is that the Board of Audit and Inspection conducted a ‘targeted audit’ of former Chairman Jeon. Rep. Park Yong-jin said, “I am very proud of having passed the referee and the audit committee member.” He added, “What kind of national remark is this to pass the referee committee member? Director Choi has become the person who took the lead in political audit.” Rep. Park Beom-gye said, “It is computer manipulation because it made it look like you clicked on the view/approval button when you did not click on it.”
Regarding this, Director Choi said, “I wish I had done that,” and added, “As the Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility for the situation that has come to this point, but there were circumstances that forced me to do it this way.” Secretary-General Yoo Byeong-ho also said, “The essence of this incident is that this is the first time something like this has happened in the 75 years since the hospital was opened, and it is because someone like Audit Committee member Cho came in. Even during the audit, Audit Committee member Cho told the secretariat’s working line to revise (the report). “When they refused, they put pressure and intimidation and the employees had a very difficult time,” he said. He continued, “There was no guarantee that the audit results would be preserved completely (if we continued to wait for audit committee member Cho’s review and approval).” Secretary General Yoo said, “Even during the 2021 KBS audit, Commissioner Cho did not approve the final report, so we were unable to implement the audit report for about 70 days and suffered a major disruption to our work.”
Secretary-General Yoo responded to the Democratic Party’s criticism that ‘the Board of Audit and Inspection has become a political audit shock force and conducts more audits that attract national attention than during the Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in administrations’, saying, “To sum it up in one word, it has never conducted a political audit and has deviated from laws, principles, and common sense.” “There were many large-scale incidents,” he said.
Rep. So Byeong-cheol, a secretary of the Democratic Party, said, “The Judiciary Committee is now being used as a forum for suspects to make excuses,” citing the fact that Director Choi and Secretary-General Yoo are targets of the Corruption Investigation Office’s investigation. “This is too much.” “Isn’t there an appropriate line?”
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