Officials prepare for a parliamentary audit of the government at the Public Administration and Security Committee's meeting room at the National Assembly, Sunday. This year's audit will take place for 26 days starting Monday. Joint Press Corps

The National Assembly's audit of the government, scheduled to kick off Monday, is poised to set the stage for a fierce political battle as both the ruling and opposition parties are preparing for a rigorous 26-day performance evaluation. A total of 17 parliamentary standing committees will audit 802 government institutions.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), is expected to focus on President Yoon Suk Yeol's handling of state affairs and controversies surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee, among other issues.

“The incompetence and inaction of Yoon's two-and-a-half years in office will be laid bare during the Assembly audit. We will seek to adopt a permanent special counsel system and launch a special counsel probe simultaneously to expose the first lady's extensive meddling in state affairs. We will also push for a parliamentary investigation into the death of a marine” during a search mission in monsoon floods last year, Rep. Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the DPK, said during a press conference, Sunday.

The DPK has pledged to prioritize allegations regarding the first lady during the audit conducted by the opposition-controlled Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The committee has summoned Kim and her aides as witnesses to testify about several allegations, although it is unlikely that the first lady will attend the audit. These allegations include her acceptance of a luxury handbag from a Korean American pastor in 2022, involvement in stock price manipulation, and alleged interference in the ruling party's candidate nominations ahead of the April general elections.

Rep. Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, enters a meeting room to hold a press conference at the National Assembly, Sunday. Yonhap

On the other hand, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) is poised to launch a full-scale attack against Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the DPK, who faces a slew of legal challenges.

“The DPK is not even hiding its intention to turn the audit into a politically contested inspection. No matter how desperate they are to overcome Lee's judicial risks, the opposition shouldn't cross the lines. Recently, Lee suggested the possibility of the president's impeachment during a by-election campaign, raising questions about his qualifications as the opposition leader,” Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the PPP, said.

Lee faces a series of criminal allegations, several of which have gone to trial. These include accusations of him providing unlawful favors to private developers who gained substantial profits from a scandal-ridden land development project in Daejang-dong, a neighborhood of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, during his tenure as mayor of the city. Additionally, he is implicated in the transfer of illicit funds to North Korea.

On Sept. 30, prosecutors sought a three-year prison sentence for Lee on charges of bribing a former mayoral secretary to provide false testimony in his favor in 2018. The court's verdict on Lee's election law violation charges, expected on Nov. 25, is likely to be pivotal in shaping his political future.

Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly, Sunday. Yonhap

Experts said this year's parliamentary audit is more politically contentious than ever before.

“It's no exaggeration to call this year's audit ‘first lady Kim Keon Hee's audit.' The original purpose of the parliamentary audit is to monitor and evaluate overall state affairs, but they are focusing on the first lady scandal that seems unrelated to state affairs. It deviates from the actual purpose of the government audit,” Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, said.

The professor predicted that the ruling party's offensive against Lee will be overshadowed by controversies surrounding the first lady.

“The first lady scandal is a much bigger issue, and her allegations keep mounting. Lee's legal troubles have weighed on him for years now and there is nothing new about them, so Kim will likely draw attention away from Lee,” Shin said.