Mudslinging marks raucous first day of parliamentary interpellation

Rival parties clashed over a series of issues including Fukushima and allegations of political maneuvering during the first day of parliamentary questioning of Yoon Suk Yeok government officials Tuesday.

Lawmakers of rival parties grill Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in a parliamentary interpellation session of Yoon Suk Yeok government officials Tuesday at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul. [NEWS1]

Rival parties clashed over a series of issues including Fukushima and allegations of political maneuvering during the first day of parliamentary questioning of Yoon Suk Yeok government officials Tuesday.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told lawmakers that politicians "must discuss and cooperate scientifically to ensure the livelihood of one million fishermen," addressing a lawmaker's question regarding the discharge of treated radioactive water from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

He underscored that the issue is not just one about a "political agenda" but one that imperils the local fishing community.

The National Assembly began a four-day interpellation of Yoon government officials Tuesday, starting with political issues including relocation of the bust of freedom fighter Hong Beom-do and the impact of the Fukushima discharge on the local seafood industry. Lawmakers will grill officials on foreign affairs, unification and security matters on Wednesday, economy on Thursday and education, societal and cultural issues Friday.

Despite National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo asking participants to be "courteous" at the beginning of the plenary session, lawmakers were quick to raise their voices.

The session degenerated into a shouting match after liberal Democratic Party (DP) lawmakers demanded the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, immediately met by strong protests from members of the conservative People Power Party (PPP).

Referring to his party's concerns over the Fukushima water release and safety, DP Rep. Sul Hoon said, "If things continue like this, the Yoon government may not only face the stern judgment of history but also calls for impeachment."

PPP lawmakers shot back, demanding that Sul take back the impeachment remark and issue an apology. They accused the DP of political maneuvering at the expense of people's livelihoods and "only being lenient towards China and North Korea."

PPP Rep. Park Sung-joong said that there is no difference between the previous and current governments' stances on the water discharge, accusing the DP of being "a shameless force that raises propaganda and makes the public anxious by inciting them with fake news and ghost stories" about Fukushima despite agricultural, fisheries and livestock industries hoping for a boost in sales ahead of the Chuseok holiday.

The DP in turn called on the government to take a clearer position than its current stance of being "neither for nor against" the release.

Speaker Kim at one point remarked, "Even an elementary school class reunion is not this noisy."

Early into the session, a PPP lawmaker raised questions about a media interview released days before the presidential election last year, which the party has described as a scheme to manipulate the March 9, 2022, election by trying to link President Yoon to a corruption scandal.

The prosecution is investigating allegations that Shin Hak-lim, a former head of the National Union of Media Workers who worked for a progressive media outlet Newstapa, was bribed by Kim Man-bae, a key suspect in the Daejang-dong land development project in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, in exchange for reporting the interview with Kim published on March 6, 2022.

Kim claimed in the interview that Yoon, then a prosecutor, had helped cover up a fraudulent lending scheme in 2011, which the PPP alleges is a part of a scheme to deflect attention away from DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung, who was Seongnam mayor at the time of the land development project.

Yoon eventually defeated Lee by a razor-thin margin in the presidential election held three days after the interview.

Earlier Tuesday, a senior presidential official slammed the interview given by Kim and told reporters, "It is slowly becoming clear that there has been political maneuvering in an attempt to shift the focus from Lee Jae-myung to Yoon Suk Yeol in the Daejang-dong scandal."

The official added, "The threat to democracy that fake news poses is a global phenomenon, not just in Korea."

This comes as DP chief Lee is on the sixth day of a hunger strike to protest the Yoon government.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]