Science Committee Votes to Recuse Rep. Lee Jin-sook from Broadcasting Regulator Audit

On the 12th, the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee passed a motion to recuse People Power Party Rep. Lee Jin-sook from its audit of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), through a secret ballot led by members of the wider opposition bloc (all 12 votes in favor). Recusal is a mechanism that bars a specific auditor from participating in a given matter when they have an interest in the audited agency or other grounds preventing a fair audit.

With the ruling and opposition parties at odds over whether it was appropriate for the former KCC chairperson to take part in the audit of her former agency, the committee convened a plenary session in the middle of the audit to put the matter to a vote, and People Power Party lawmakers abstained from the ballot. A motion to change the agenda was subsequently submitted and passed with 12 votes in favor and 5 abstentions.

The Democratic Party, the Rebuilding Korea Party, and other opposition parties pointed out that matters decided and duties performed by Rep. Lee during her tenure as KCC chairperson were among the subjects of the day's audit, arguing this posed a potential conflict of interest, and demanded the recusal motion be brought to the floor on those grounds. Committee Chair Rep. Song Ki-heon of the Democratic Party, before tabling the motion, proposed, "This constitutes a conflict of interest," adding, "Wouldn't it be right to step back from the audits of the KCC and the Korea Communications Standards Commission?"

Rep. Lee refused, saying she had "no intention of recusing herself." Ahead of the vote, she countered, "I do not consider my having served as KCC chairperson grounds for recusal or recusal from the audit." She argued, "Forcing my recusal through a vote simply because Democratic Party members hold a majority is tyranny of the majority and Democratic Party dictatorship." She then signaled she would raise an objection, saying, "Even if a decision is made here, if an objection is raised, it must go through a vote in the full plenary session."

The People Power Party countered that there were no grounds for recusal, noting that the National Assembly had already determined there was no conflict of interest regarding Rep. Lee's assignment to the committee.