Why lawmakers watch musicals during inspection of overseas mission?

Monday’s first activity of five lawmakers, who are members of the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs and unification auditing the Korean Embassy in China, was a tour to Hyundai Motor’s Beijing plant, and viewing of grand-scale musical “Golden Mask Dynasty” directed by Zhang Yimou. This musical depicts romance in a love story between man and women in ancient Chinese myth, and has nothing to do with affairs of the Korean Embassy in China, which deals with pending issues in foreign affairs and national security. As the lawmakers wasted one day of the two-day audit watching the musical and touring the automobile plant, which have no relevance with parliamentary audit activities, we wonder why Korea should conduct such audit meant for entertainment tour, which ends up wasting taxpayers’ money.

Lawmakers who watched the musical are Lee Hae-chan, Kim Seong-gon, Shim Jae-kwon and Kim Hyun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, and Lee Jae-oh of the ruling Saenuri Party. Paying tickets for the musical from the budget for parliamentary audit is waste of taxpayers’ money that effectively constitutes embezzlement of public fund. As lawmakers spend budget in such a lavish way, expenses for audit by the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, which include inspection of overseas missions" amounted to more than 450 million won (424,000 U.S. dollars) in 2012, or one third of the entire expense for parliamentary audit of the government, and five times the average expense used by other standing committees. Lawmakers only spent about three hours conducting audit on Tuesday, in which they asked questions regarding North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s health, and deploying U.S. military`s terminal high-altitude area defence (THAAD) to South Korea. Moreover, Rep. Kim Hyun, who is facing legal compliant as a suspected accomplice in beating of a substitute driver in Seoul, abused her power even overseas, saying, “Why officials stationed in foreign missions do not bow to us?”

Despite this, the Korean Embassy in China said, “Viewing of the musical was arranged to help them understand local culture. Officials in the mission should naturally greet and bow to lawmakers,” saying on the lawmakers’ behalf, which is hardly understandable. Is it because foreign missions are accustomed to such audit meant for entertainment tours, or did a veteran lawmaker of the committee instructed the embassy to "make an excuse, thus abusing his power by flexing muscle again?

The parliamentary committee for national policy will reportedly also take a tour for audit into illicit lending by bank branches in Beijing and Tokyo for two days from Friday. It is ridiculous that all of the 23 lawmakers of the committee will take on the tour amid only two to three officials from the Financial Supervisory Service stationing in those branches. If the purpose of the visit were to inspect illicit lending, it would be more efficient for them to ask questions to the Financial Supervisory Service and the Financial Services Commission in Korea. We have never seen examples of cases, in which lawmakers flock en masse at the pretext of inspecting overseas missions whenever the parliamentary audit season comes. Business class flight tickets, lodging expenses at luxury hotels, and reception and entertainment expenses for them spent by overseas missions all come from taxpayers’ money, which is truly lamentable.