Rival parties on Wednesday (October 21) showed contrasting reactions to the Constitutional Court's ruling on People Power Party Rep. Lee Jin-sook's injunction request seeking to suspend the effect of her recusal from the state audit by the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee.

The Democratic Party of Korea (DP), which led the passage of the resolution to recuse Rep. Lee from the audit, noted that the court upheld her exclusion from matters directly connected to her, while the People Power Party criticized the DP, interpreting the decision as upholding the constitutionally guaranteed powers of a lawmaker.

DP members on the committee issued a statement regarding the court's injunction decision, saying, "A partial suspension of effect must not be overinterpreted as a 'blanket lifting of the recusal.' The final legality of the exclusion resolution will be determined in the main case."

They added, "The Constitutional Court's judgment is clear. While a lawmaker's participation in an audit should not be comprehensively restricted beyond individual matters involving conflicts of interest, the fairness of the state audit must be maintained on issues where their own legal liability or actions are at stake."

Referring to the scope of the audit where the recusal was maintained, they said, "The Constitutional Court determined that 'there is significant room to recognize grounds for recusal' regarding these issues, and also pointed out that if the fairness of the state audit is undermined by permitting audit participation, there would be no way to restore it."

In response, committee members belonging to the People Power Party criticized the DP, stating, "The core of this ruling is that a majority vote in the National Assembly cannot indefinitely infringe upon constitutional authority," and urged the DP to "take this Constitutional Court ruling with utmost seriousness."

They added, "The Constitutional Court's decision makes clear that a parliamentary majority must not arbitrarily restrict the powers of lawmakers guaranteed by the Constitution and the law. Taking this ruling as an opportunity, we will safeguard lawmakers' legitimate audit powers and fulfill our responsibility to the end so that the National Assembly operates in accordance with the Constitution and the law."

Rep. Lee also wrote on Facebook shortly after the decision, "A natural ruling by the Constitutional Court. I will participate in tomorrow's audit."

Under the court's decision, the committee's recusal of Rep. Lee has been suspended until a final verdict is delivered in the main competence dispute case.

As a result, Rep. Lee will be able to take part in the state audit of the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Committee scheduled for October 22.

However, the Constitutional Court dismissed the injunction request regarding certain matters, such as tasks in which Rep. Lee took part in decision-making while serving as the chair of the Korea Communications Commission.