(EDITORIAL from The Korea Times on Oct. 16)

Noisy but empty
Politics is often likened to comedy, and nowhere else is this truer than the Korean parliament's annual inspection of the government.

The legislature's audit of the executive branch, a three-week event opening the
National Assembly's plenary session in autumn, is said to be lacking in three
elements ??? time, expertise and substance.
It is fundamentally impossible for the 299-member unicameral Assembly to properly
inspect more than 500 administrative agencies in 20 days or so. Lawmakers, many
of whom are usually newly elected reflecting voters' disillusionment with the
existing legislators, are often strangers to the work of the committees they
chose or were assigned by party leaders. It would be rather strange that such a
parliament would produce anything substantive.
Most of all, the basic concept of the inspection ??? and parliamentary politics
itself for that matter ??? are wrong. In this country, it is not about the
representative of people checking and probing how the government uses taxpayers'
money. Throughout the year, the Assembly is the political battleground between
governing and opposition parties and the autumnal audit is no exception.
Illustrating this best is the ruling Grand National Party lawmakers' behavior
that focuses on the attack against previous administration's problems. These are
just outcries without echoes or shadow boxing, as there are no officials
remaining to explain about past policies, much less rectify them.
Such excessive ``politicization" of the parliamentary audit has reduced it to an
event in which legislators vent their accumulated spites or resort to muckraking
tactics to curry party elders' favor. So much so that government officials have
come to think they can get along well for the remainder of the year if only they
pass this period unscathed, by begging, bribing or entertaining the
parliamentarians. Reflecting the governing party's overwhelming majority, some
government employees are even browbeating opposition lawmakers, act amounting to
the contempt of the people electing them and should be sternly disciplined to
prevent recurrences.
Little wonder there have long been calls for doing away with this annual rite of
passage, something nearly unparalleled in the world. We can't agree more. The
time has long past for the Assembly to move to an all-year-round inspection
system, supplemented by parliamentary hearings when special events or accidents
arise. Both elected and appointed officials whose pay comes from taxpayers' money
should always remain attentive to voters' needs and complaints.
In a way, however, the lawmakers' behavior reflects those of voters. If
politicians' foremost concern is their reelection, they might as well see little
need for doing their best at the inspection. Many Koreans still don't elect
parliamentarians by the individuals' ability and sincerity, but by which party
they belong and from which province they come.
True, local voters have begun to awaken to their rights and responsibilities, but
they have a long way to go before selecting their representatives by the laws
they enact and hard efforts during audits to save taxpayers' money the government
may waste.
When every audit ends, all media outlets, including this page, have called for
parliamentary and auditory reform through concerted efforts of all parties
involved. Painfully little has changed, however, showing the current state is the
convergence of their respective interests.
If this situation continues uncorrected, the days are numbered before people
begin to visit the cable National Assembly TV (NATV) when they want to watch
slapstick funnies.
(END)