South Korea's parliament audits prosecution office and financial regulators on 22 October

Ruling and opposition parties are expected to clash again at the National Assembly's parliamentary audits on 22 October, Newsis and Yonhap reported. Yonhap and Kyunghyang Shinmun said audits run in 10 standing committees that day, while Newsis counted 11. Yonhap and Kyunghyang Shinmun said many of them are holding comprehensive audits that close out the audit period. [ 1 , 2 , 4 ]

The Legislative and Judiciary Committee holds its first audit of the Prosecution Service headquarters. Newsis said earlier audits of the Justice Ministry, the Seoul regional prosecution office and local offices produced disputes over abolishing the Prosecutors' Office and the decision not to appeal in the Daejang-dong case. Newsis expects the Democratic Party to raise abuse of investigative power and political neutrality, and the People Power Party to raise investigative gaps and the possible cancellation of prosecution in cases related to President Lee Jae-myung. Yonhap and Kyunghyang Shinmun added that the appointment of the Prosecution Service's first prosecutor general and delays in handling cases after the criminal justice overhaul are also expected to come up. [ 1 , 2 , 4 ]

The Political Affairs Committee holds its comprehensive audit of the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service from 10:00, Newsis reported. At earlier audits on 8 and 19 October, hacking incidents and the introduction of single-stock leveraged ETFs were main issues. People Power Party lawmaker Park Dae-chul said the average ETF listing review takes 62 days, and 43 days for a major index-type ETF, against 29 days for single-stock leveraged products. Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin replied that the Financial Services Commission had announced a listing schedule in mid-April, so the review was done faster to meet it. The opposition says this is an admission of a rushed review and is pushing for a special counsel. [ 2 , 3 ]

Newsis reported, citing Financial Supervisory Service data, that individual investors lost more than 6.3 trillion won on single-stock leveraged ETFs and ETNs in under three months after launch. Realised losses were 2.3242 trillion won and valuation losses on products still held were 3.9888 trillion won. The opposition also pursues allegations of Blue House involvement. At the earlier audit, Financial Supervisory Service deputy governor Hwang Seon-oh answered "I don't remember well" when asked by People Power Party lawmaker Choi Eun-seok whether he objected at a closed-door meeting chaired by Kim Yong-beom. No securities or asset-management company witnesses were adopted because the ruling party opposed it, Newsis said. [ 3 ]

Newsis said the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission audit is expected to bring a clash over People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-sook. On 12 October the Democratic Party forced through a motion excluding her, arguing that auditing work she handled as chair of the broadcasting and communications commission is a conflict of interest. The People Power Party applied to the Constitutional Court for a competence dispute ruling and an injunction, and the court partly granted the injunction the day before, allowing her to take part. [ 1 ]

Other committees are also scheduled to hold audits. The Defense Committee audits the military academies, where the government's plan to merge them is expected to be disputed. Yonhap said it later inspects the Army's 5th Infantry Division. The Public Administration and Security Committee audits regional police agencies, including Jeju, where the false closing of a missing-person case is expected to draw criticism. The finance committee is expected to examine US investment and the deferral of virtual-asset taxation, due to take effect next year. Yonhap said the committee on agriculture and fisheries will focus on the farmland survey and CPTPP accession, and the industry committee on the Alaska LNG project. [ 1 , 2 , 4 ]