The National Assembly Steering Committee on the 29th discussed adopting witnesses and reference witnesses for the presidential office's audit scheduled for Nov. 6, but as the ruling and opposition parties fiercely confronted each other over adopting ordinary witnesses such as Presidential Office First Private Secretary Kim Hyun-ji, they approved only the request for the appearance of institutional witnesses.
The committee held a full meeting that morning and put to a show-of-hands vote a motion requesting the appearance of witnesses for the state audit that included only a list of institutional witnesses, passing it with 17 in favor and 7 against out of 24 lawmakers present. As the People Power Party opposed the vote while demanding the appearance of Deputy Minister Kim, it was handled under the lead of the Democratic Party of Korea.
Institutional witnesses approved by the committee that day are Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom, Office of National Security Director Wi Sung-lac, Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs Woo Sang-ho, Senior Presidential Secretary for Public Relations and Communications Lee Kyu-yeon, Senior Presidential Secretary for Listening and Integration Jeon Sung-hwan, Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Bong Uk, Senior Presidential Secretary for Personnel Cho Sung-joo, Senior Presidential Secretary for Economic Growth Ha Jun-kyung, Senior Presidential Secretary for Social Affairs Moon Jin-young, and Senior Presidential Secretary for AI Future Planning Ha Jung-woo.
By contrast, ordinary witnesses and reference witnesses were not introduced due to the failure of an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties. Steering Committee Chair Kim Byung-kee said, "We reached agreement on institutional witnesses but not on ordinary and reference witnesses," adding, "We request the appearance of institutional witnesses such as the heads and department heads of the nine audit target agencies."
The ruling and opposition parties previously held a meeting of the floor operation chiefs the day before and negotiated for nearly two hours to adopt witnesses but failed to find common ground. The Democratic Party of Korea proposed that Deputy Minister Kim inevitably appear only in the morning to support the presidential office's schedule, while the People Power Party countered that to resolve various suspicions surrounding Deputy Minister Kim, Kim must remain at the audit venue until 3–4 p.m., when the main questioning ends.
At the steering committee that day, the ruling and opposition parties also clashed over the appearance of Private Secretary Office Chief Kim Hyun-ji. As remarks such as "rebellion party" and "unlawful party" came from some lawmakers, the chamber became chaotic for a while amid a heated exchange mixed with shouting.
Rep. Kwak Kyu-taek said, "Since it has been confirmed that (Deputy Minister Kim) has been close to the president since the past and exercised authority beyond that of the general affairs secretary, Kim must appear at the audit."
Rep. Kim Eun-hye, regarding the "morning appearance" plan presented by the Democratic Party, said, "What kind of state audit is half-and-half chicken," adding, "You summon the chief justice, who ranks third in the national protocol order, to mock and scold, so why do you tiptoe around a Grade-1 secretary," escalating the offensive.
The Democratic Party of Korea pushed back, calling it a "call for appearance for political strife." Rep. Jeon Yong-gi said, "Even though Deputy Minister Kim Hyun-ji said Kim would appear, the People Power Party attached conditions, giving the impression of effectively obstructing the appearance," adding it was "an attempt to insult a presidential office aide."
Rep. Chae Hyun-il of the same party also said, "We are asking for understanding that, due to the presidential office's schedule, it is inevitable to leave in the middle. If even that is rejected, it means they want to turn it into a venue for political strife," criticizing that "the People Power Party is scaling up the situation so that Deputy Minister Kim cannot possibly appear, engaging in political showing."