The People Power Party on March 18 called for a parliamentary investigation to uncover the truth behind the administration of COVID-19 vaccines found to contain foreign substances.
Rep. Kim Eun-hye, the party’s senior deputy floor leader for policy, and Rep. Kim Mi-ae, the opposition’s ranking member on the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, submitted a formal request for a parliamentary probe—adopted as the party’s official position—to the Assembly’s bill office in South Korea earlier in the day.
Kim said, “A total of 14.2 million doses from the same manufacturing batches—vaccines that should have been discarded or halted due to the detection of foreign substances such as mold—were administered to the public.”
“Yet even now, people have not received answers from the government as to whether the vaccine they received was among those batches,” she added.
She continued, “We proposed holding a pending issues inquiry at the Health and Welfare Committee, and also sought an emergency inquiry with the Board of Audit and Inspection at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, but the Democratic Party rejected both.”
“In that case, there is no alternative but a parliamentary investigation,” she said.
Kim Mi-ae said, “If you look around, most people will know at least a few individuals who passed away after receiving the vaccine,” adding, “The public is anxious.”
She added, “The damage caused by these COVID-19 vaccines should now be viewed as a social disaster, and the South Korean government must take responsibility.”
The Board of Audit and Inspection said in a report released on Feb. 23 titled “Assessment and Analysis of the COVID-19 Response” that reports of foreign substances in vaccines were not properly handled during the pandemic, resulting in approximately 14.2 million doses continuing to be administered.