Kang Yu-jung, chief spokesperson of Cheong Wa Dae, briefs reporters at the Chunchugwan press hall Monday on President Lee Jae Myung's nomination of attorney Choi Gil-su as Special Inspector candidate. [Yonhap]
Kang Yu-jung, chief spokesperson of Cheong Wa Dae, briefs reporters at the Chunchugwan press hall Monday on President Lee Jae Myung's nomination of attorney Choi Gil-su as Special Inspector candidate. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung on Monday nominated attorney Choi Gil-su as Special Inspector, the official responsible for investigating misconduct by the president's relatives and senior aides.

Cheong Wa Dae Chief Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung announced the nomination at a briefing at the Chunchugwan press hall that day.

Kang said Choi had served as head of the special investigations division at the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, as an inspector at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, and as deputy chief of the major economic crimes investigation unit at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, building expertise in oversight and corruption investigations. "He is judged to be the right person to independently carry out his duties, block misconduct by the president's relatives and key aides, and restore discipline in public service, grounded in strict adherence to principle and strong investigative capacity," she said.

Kang added that Choi was expected to raise public trust in the civil service through oversight that spares no official, in keeping with the principle of popular sovereignty that all power must be subject to institutional checks.

Asked whether accepting an opposition-recommended candidate would have done more to strengthen public-service discipline, Kang said the Special Inspector is guaranteed full operational independence under the law. "The president also made this appointment on the principle that all power requires institutional oversight," she said.

She further noted that Choi had previously been recommended by the opposition party and was considered a neutral figure not aligned with any particular party or political camp. "As I understand it, Lee Seok-su, the Special Inspector appointed on the recommendation of the ruling party during the Park Geun-hye administration, also carried out his duties with great rigor," she said.

Kang also said that after learning a body believed to be that of a missing person had been found in Jeju, President Lee expressed deep sorrow. She added that Lee had ordered a thorough investigation into the full circumstances of the case throughout the police inquiry, as well as a review of the entire case-closure and command-and-supervision framework. The president also directed police to draw up their own reform plan, including institutional remedies or a fundamental overhaul, she said.


sunpine@heraldcorp.com