"Call Lee Jae-yong and Chey Tae-won" vs. "Tool for Political Strife": Clash over 'Honam Semiconductor' Witnesses

At today's (October 13) parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Employment and Labor by the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment, and Labor Committee, the ruling and opposition parties clashed fiercely over whether to adopt conglomerate chiefs as witnesses in connection with the 'Honam Semiconductor Mega Project.'

The main opposition People Power Party demanded that Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won be adopted as witnesses to investigate allegations that the government 'twisted corporate arms,' while the Democratic Party of Korea pushed back, calling it an attempt to "turn the parliamentary audit into a tool for political strife."

Representative Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party said, "Many citizens believe that the Honam Mega Project was initiated for the Democratic Party's national convention and that the president summoned conglomerate chiefs and twisted their arms," adding, "I demand the adoption of (SK Group) Chairman Chey Tae-won and (Samsung Electronics) Chairman Lee Jae-yong as witnesses."

Representative Kim Wi-sang of the same party also leveled sharp criticism, saying, "The Democratic Party also stopped at nothing to bring conglomerate chiefs to the parliamentary audit floor when it was the opposition party. Is it dragging feet only when the People Power Party calls them? Such double standards are precisely what make the parliamentary audit a political fight."

In response, Representative Shin Jeong-hoon of the Democratic Party strongly countered, "Adopting Chairmen Chey Tae-won and Lee Jae-yong as witnesses sounds like nothing other than an intention to use the audit as a tool for political strife. Twisting corporate arms was done by the Chun Doo-hwan administration, the Park Chung-hee administration, and so to speak, the Roh Tae-woo administration; when did a Democratic Party administration ever twist corporate arms?"

He then raised his voice, saying, "Please let Honam make a living as well."

On the other hand, both parties spoke with one voice regarding the adoption of corporate witnesses directly tied to industrial accidents and occupational health issues.

When Democratic Party Representative Lee Yong-woo urged the adoption of witnesses from major companies including Hanwha Ocean, People Power Party Representative Yoon Jae-ok also gave his support, mentioning fatal accidents within Hanwha Group: "A responsible person from the (Hanwha) Group must appear before the National Assembly and explain in front of the public how they plan to improve this issue going forward."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.