Judiciary committee adopts hearing report on special inspector nominee Choi Gil-su

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee adopted the confirmation hearing report on special inspector nominee Choi Gil-su.

The committee held a plenary meeting at the National Assembly on the 22nd after completing the main questioning in the parliamentary audit and voted to adopt the report on nominee Choi. The report included both favorable and unfavorable assessments.

Nominee Choi's confirmation hearing ended on the 18th of the previous month, but opposition resistance delayed adoption of the report for more than a month. At a press corps tea meeting at Chunchugwan on the 19th, President Lee said there had been some thought about whether the appointment was necessary given the opposition's resistance, but that he had nevertheless instructed officials to explore how to make the appointment.

The special inspector post was established in 2014 to investigate misconduct by the president's spouse, relatives within the fourth degree of kinship, and officials at senior secretary level or above in the presidential secretariat. No successor has been appointed since the first special inspector, lawyer Lee Seok-su, resigned in September 2016.

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a plenary meeting on the 22nd to adopt a confirmation hearing report on special inspector nominee Choi Gil-su.

The ruling and opposition parties remained at odds over adopting the report after holding Choi's confirmation hearing on the 18th of last month. On the 19th, they agreed to adopt it with both favorable and unfavorable assessments, ending a standoff that had lasted about a month.

The special inspector's remit includes the president's spouse, relatives within the fourth degree of kinship, and presidentially appointed senior officials at the level of senior presidential secretary or above. Introduced in 2014 to inspect misconduct by these individuals, the system provides for the National Assembly to recommend three candidates, the president to nominate one, and appointment to follow a confirmation hearing.

After the first special inspector, lawyer Lee Seok-su, resigned in September 2016, no successor was appointed under the Moon Jae-in or Yoon Suk Yeol administrations. Choi's appointment would end a vacancy of about 10 years and one month.

The hearing also exposed disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties over who could be inspected and the scope of inspections. Whether Kim Hyun-ji, head of the presidential office's First Private Secretariat, could be inspected was an issue debated at the hearing.

The People Power Party raised allegations that Kim had intervened in personnel matters and argued that Kim should fall within the inspector's remit. Responding to a related question from People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo, Choi said the Special Inspector Act covers officials at senior presidential secretary level or above and that Kim was outside its scope.

The Democratic Party countered that figures from the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and allegations of corruption during that administration could also fall within the inspector's remit. Asked whether senior presidential secretaries from the previous administration could be inspected, Choi said a legal review was needed and was underway.

Parties agree to include both favorable and unfavorable assessments of special inspector nominee

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