[Editorial] Presidential Advisory Committee-NSC Audit Should Proceed with More Care

The Board of Audit and Inspection will be conducting audits on the presidential advisory committees and the National Security Council. Requested by the National Assembly, it is the first time for this administration to conduct such acts. Considering the magnitude of the advisory committee, hence the term “Committee Republic,” the audits seem to have been long overdue.

Seven of the 22 advisory committees will be audited, including Policy Planning, Northeast Asian Cooperation Initiative, Sustainable Development, Education Innovation, Social Inclusion, Aging and Future Society, and Gwangju Cultural City Cultivation, amounting to one-third of the total number of committees.

This is incomprehensible. All governmental organizations or committees that are funded by the nations should be under auditory inspections. The “assembly request” excuse seems flimsy. As the presidential advisory committee functioned as a “parliament above the parliament,” it only seems plausible that the entire committee should be placed under audit.

The Board of Audit and Investigation stated that it will “inspect the execution of out-side service charges,” which also seems incomprehensible. The public wants get to the bottom of the matter. We want to know why the number of presidential committees has doubled, and whether the board really sees these committees as necessary.

The bureaucracy is disillusioned by the presidential advisory committees. Dubbed as “roadmaps,” heavyweight policies are allocated to the committees, while respective ministries are relegated to that of an administrative function. Some also cite the function overlap, irresponsibility, and the wasting of national funds. NSC also yields problems in regards to policy decisions. A total of 70 personnel, an increase from the 10 original members, are working as a collective institute for foreign policy and security, but doubts arise as to their effectiveness.

The current audit should not rest solely on an inspection on out-side service charges. Financial auditing and duty inspection are two sides of the same coin. During financial audits, the inspection inevitably becomes a duty, and hence a policy investigation. The board should investigate the problems inherent in the committees with integrity and courage.