Tension mounted between the rival parties over the scope of their witness lists, as each sought to call in high-profile business leaders in a trial of strength that will unfold during the 22-day audit session kicking off Thursday.

The ruling Saenuri Party urged the chiefs of the nation’s two major Internet giants, Naver and Daum Kakao, to take to the stand during the audit, while the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy sought to grill the owners of Korea’s family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebol.

Both parties remained adamantly against the other’s plan, while observers doubted whether the business leaders would actually appear for questioning even if included on the list. According to law, the listed witness will be jailed or fined for refusing to appear without due reasons, but most chaebol owners have defied past orders, citing business trips. The witnesses need to be notified a week before they take to the stand.


The Saenuri Party plans to grill the portal giants’ chiefs -- Kim Beom-su of Daum Kakao and Lee Hae-jin of Naver. This comes after the party’s research institute published a big-data analysis on the two major portals’ newsstand. The findings suggested that the portals news sites are more in favor of the opposition than the ruling party.

“Considering the influence of Internet portals on the general public, particularly the young people, it would be wrong if the portals provide people with biased information. We need to address the wrongdoings and give people accurate information,” said Saenuri chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung.

The move has been met with intense criticism from the NPAD, which denounced the Saenuri Party for attempting to “tame” the Internet portals in the run-up to next year’s general election. The portals are considered to have played a significant role in swaying voters during the past elections.

“It is laughable that (the Saenuri Party) thinks the portals are biased because the users come across NPAD leader Moon Jae-in’s name more often than Kim’s. Considering President Park Geun-hye’s mishandling of government affairs, it is natural that Moon’s opposition will appear more frequently,” said NPAD spokesman Kim Sung-soo.

The NPAD, for its part, upped the ante against conglomerates and pledged to question them under the slogan of the party’s initiative to reform their governing structure. The Saenuri Party, however, said summoning the conglomerate owners too often was an outdated practice of parliamentary inspections.

“It would be fine if the lawmakers want to hear from experts who are familiar with business operations. But it is a wrong practice to grill the conglomerate owners who know few details,” said Kim. NPAD lawmakers condemned the Saenuri Party for raising excessive and groundless objections.

But Kim left open the possibility that the party would push to question Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin, whose infamous succession battle with his brother caused a public uproar over the company’s management system.

While Shin’s attendance at the parliamentary audit has yet to be determined, Samsung C&T president Choi Chi-hun, SK Holdings CEO Cho Dae-sik and Hyosung Corp. president Cho Hyun-joon are on the list of those set to testify before lawmakers.

By Yeo Jun suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)