President Lee approves Choi Gil-su as special inspector, ending vacancy of over 10 years

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.

President Lee Jae-myung presented an appointment certificate to Choi Gil-su, the special inspector at the presidential office, on the 30th. He presented designation certificates to nine people, including special presidential advisers and chairs and vice chairs of presidential committees.

Kang Yu-jung, chief spokesperson for the presidential office, said in a written briefing that Lee emphasized early responses to problems and prevention during a tea meeting with Choi after the ceremony. Choi was appointed 10 years after the first special inspector, Lee Seok-su, resigned in September 2016. On his first day at work on the 26th, Choi also emphasized monitoring those subject to inspection and strengthening preventive inspections.

Lee urged Kim Kyoung-soo, special adviser for political affairs; Song Young-gil, special adviser for peace and diplomacy; and Kim Byung-joo, special adviser for defense policy, to exercise caution because their words and actions could be interpreted as the government's position. His message was that they should act and speak responsibly and carefully, and he did not cite specific examples.

Lee told Kye Seung-kyun, chair of the Presidential Council on Intellectual Property, and others that presidential committees should play substantive roles rather than merely exist as formal bodies. He asked the experts in each field to offer diverse views frequently, describing the committees as channels for voices from the field and saying he personally reviews their input.