INTERPELLATION SESSION UNDERWAY

[Anchor Lead]

The first parliamentary interpellation session under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration kicked off Monday. Rival parties clashed over a number of issues including President Yoon's personnel appointments and the repatriation of North Korean fishermen in 2019. The session continues Tuesday, focusing on the economy.

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The first lawmaker to take the podium was Park Beom-kye, who served as justice minister under the Moon Jae-in administration. Park said the current justice ministry was tampering with the rule of law by creating a new division tasked with vetting personnel for the Yoon government.

[Soundbite] Park Beom-kye(Democratic Party) : "Why does the justice minister need to vet candidates for court justices, prime minister, presidential chief of staff and aides?"

[Soundbite] Han Dong-hoon(Minister of Justice) : "If what I'm doing is wrong, then the personnel vetting carried out by the office of the presidential civil affairs secretary under the previous gov't was all illegal."

The current and former ministers also clashed over the prosecutor general post which remains vacant for the second month.

[Soundbite] Park Beom-kye(Democratic Party) : "You made personnel appointments for the Supreme and High Prosecutors Offices as well as rank-and-file prosecutors. Has there been such a precedent?"

[Soundbite] Han Dong-hoon(Minister of Justice) : "Rep. Park, when you were minister in the past, I believe you completely sidestepped the prosecutor-general in personnel decisions."

[Soundbite] Park Beom-kye(Democratic Party) : "That is nonsense."

Citing controversial personnel picks and privatization of power, the DP raised concern over fairness of the current administration.

[Soundbite] Han Duck-soo(Prime Minister) : "Relatives can be appointed through the vetting process if they pose no major legal problems."

[Soundbite] Ko Min-jung(Democratic Party) : "Parliament bans the employment of relatives closer than a first cousin and the hiring of third cousins must also be reported."

Foreign Minister Park Jin said he did not know that the spouse of a presidential official overseeing personnel affairs was part of a group that traveled to Spain ahead of President Yoon's trip to the NATO summit. Meanwhile, the PPP targeted the Moon government, raising questions about the disputed 2019 repatriation of two North Korean fishermen.

[Soundbite] Ha Tae-keung(People Power Party) : "There is the opinion that since they were brutal criminals, it's okay to return them to the North even though they may be tortured and executed."

[Soundbite] Kwon Young-se(Minister of Unification) : "That is a totalitarian way of thinking. That kind of logic shares the same rational as security measures implemented by authoritarian regimes in the past."

On Tuesday lawmakers will grill government offices related to economic issues. The ongoing economic crisis, the now-ended labor strike at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and the tax code revision plan are expected to be some key focal points.