In the national audit chamber, one's seating position reveals their role. One side asks questions, while the other provides answers.
During the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs national audit on the 7th, this familiar dynamic felt unfamiliar to some attendees. This was because In Sa-deul-i (Rep.), who had previously served in the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and had been under audit alongside them, was now questioning agricultural policy from the lawmakers' seats.
At that day's national audit by the National Assembly Committee for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Fisheries, criticism from both ruling and opposition parties continued over the comprehensive survey of farmland. Questions poured in regarding what measures would be taken to alleviate the anxiety of elderly farmers and owners of inherited farmland.
For Song Mi-ryeong (Minister) and the accompanying agricultural policy institutional investors, it was a time spent continuing to answer questions under tension.
An interesting scene also unfolded. It is said that while Song (Minister)'s answers were ongoing, some of the accompanying personnel exchanged different conversations among themselves.
Their gazes turned toward People Power Party lawmaker Cho Seung-hwan and Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Sung-beom.
Jo (Rep.) served as Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, while Kim (Rep.) served as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Jo (Rep.) entered the National Assembly through the 2024 general election, and Kim (Rep.) entered through this year's Seogwipo by-election. The two individuals from the same ministry now sit in the position of auditing the government, divided between the ruling and opposition parties.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries undergo audits by the same standing committee. Although they belong to different ministries, their situation in anticipating questions and preparing answers was similar. Those who knew about the sweat-inducing pressure of responding to lawmakers' criticisms had moved to the questioning side, so their feelings as observers were likely complex.
Agricultural policy bureaucrats looked at them with a mix of unfamiliarity and envy. They said it felt strangely poignant to see Lee Deul-i (Rep.), who had been in the same position until recently, now criticizing agricultural policy.
It is also reported that one attendee made a joke to a colleague sitting next to them: "You should try running for National Assembly member once."
The path from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to the National Assembly has not been entirely nonexistent. Ahn Deok-su, who served as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, went on to serve as the 19th National Assembly member after becoming the Gunwoo Mayor of Gwangju. Kim Ju-soo, a former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, entered local politics as the Mayor of Uiseong County.
The ability to handle policy well and the ability to be chosen in an election are not the same. A large ministry budget or excellent political sensitivity does not guarantee election. The electoral landscape is a complex web of ties with the region, party selection, timing of candidacy, and individual backgrounds.
Nevertheless, that day's joke left a lingering impression. While the words "You should try running once" were passed off with laughter, they contained feelings of looking beyond the familiar audit seats.
Among the agricultural policy bureaucrats preparing answers this year, will someone soon sit in the lawmakers' seats and throw questions at the government? The national audit is a place to scrutinize policy, but it is also sometimes a place where bureaucrats imagine different lives.
in ECONOMY
