South Korea’s National Assembly completed its first full audit this week since Yoon Suk-yeol’s election. But a chain of scandals marked the procedures and drove a never-ending confrontation between progressives and conservatives.

The parliamentary audit is a big deal that has few analogs in other constitutional democracies. Normally, the audit starts in late September and continues for some 20 days. All administrative agencies (ministries, state-run enterprises, local administrations, etc.) are subject to the audit, which means the National Assembly must review 780 individual units. Private citizens may also be summoned for testimony.