The parliamentary probe into resource diplomacy hit a stumbling block with the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy unable to agree on the witnesses to be called for the parliamentary hearings scheduled to take place on March 31 and April 1, 3 and 6.
The special investigation committee was launched on Dec. 31 to probe the Lee Myung-bak administration’s resource diplomacy. The effort undertaken during the Lee administration to reduce dependence on Middle Eastern oil by diversifying energy sources is estimated to have cost some 35 trillion won to 46 trillion won in investment in overseas projects, none of which have yet yielded successful outcomes.
The NPAD called on former President Lee Myung-bak, former legislator and President Lee’s older brother Lee Sang-deuk, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan who was then energy minister, former Vice Energy Minister Park Young-june, and Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick to appear as witnesses.
The Saenuri Party outright rejected the demand to put former President Lee Myung-bak on the witness stand and in turn demanded NPAD chairman Moon Jae-in, Blue House chief-of-staff during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, and NPAD lawmaker Chung Se-kyun, energy minister during the Roh administration, to appear as witnesses.
The goal of the parliamentary investigation is to discover what went wrong so that the same mistakes are not repeated. Former President Lee signed some 28 MOUs on resource development deals and his older brother is known to have played a central role in conducting the Lee administration’s resource diplomacy. Their testimonies could be crucial in understanding how resource diplomacy was conducted.
Calling on a former president to take to the witness stand is highly unusual and could be exploited politically, but it is not out of bounds. Saenuri Party chairman Kim Moo-sung should not have immediately rejected the demand, characterizing it as being out of the question.
In his memoir, Lee claimed that his resource diplomacy was a success, contrary to what most people are inclined to believe. If indeed his resource diplomacy is not being given due credit, he should take the parliamentary hearing as an opportunity to explain himself.
The Saenuri Party claims Moon needs to testify because, as Roh’s presidential chief-of-staff, he must have been involved in the Roh administration’s resource diplomacy. While investigating the resource diplomacy of the Lee administration may require a look into the resource diplomacy of the previous Roh administration, it is a politically calculated move -― Moon is being asked to appear in response to the NPAD’s demand for Lee’s testimony.
The special committee expires on April 7 with a possible 25-day extension. Some observers allege that the Saenuri Party is attempting to stall the hearing by locking horns over witnesses. A similar scene played out last year over the parliamentary probe into the Sewol ferry disaster. Unable to agree on the witnesses, the committee ended its activities without a parliamentary hearing.
A repeat performance over resource diplomacy will undermine the authority of the National Assembly in the public’s mind and raise fundamental questions about the usefulness of special parliamentary investigations.
