President Lee Appoints Choi Gilsu as Special Inspector General, Ending 10-Year Vacancy

President Lee Jae-myung appointed Choi Gil-su as special inspector general on October 23.

Kang Yoo-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, said in a press notice that day that President Lee had approved the appointment of Choi Gil-su as special inspector general.

Nominee Choi enters the office of the special inspector general in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Oct. 22, 2026. Yonhap News.

Earlier, the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee adopted a report on the confirmation hearing for Choi on October 22. Choi was nominated by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea in late July and designated as a nominee by President Lee on August 24.

This fills the vacancy in the special inspector general post, which had remained vacant for more than 10 years since September 2016. No special inspector general has been appointed since Lee Seok-su, the first person to hold the post under the Park Geun-hye administration, resigned after investigating allegations of misconduct involving then-Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Woo Byung-woo. No appointment process was initiated under the Moon Jae-in or Yoon Suk Yeol administrations either.

The special inspector general investigates misconduct by the president and the president’s spouse, relatives within the fourth degree of kinship, and senior presidential aides at or above the level of senior secretary. The position was first introduced under the Park Geun-hye administration in March 2015, following the enactment of the relevant law in 2014.

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