President Lee Tells Special Inspector General Choi Gilsu: "Prompt Response and Prevention Are Paramount"

Appointment Letter Presented to Special Inspector General
Nine Appointed, Including Presidential Committee Chairs and Special Advisers

President Lee Jaemyung presented a letter of appointment to newly appointed Special Inspector General Choi Gilsu on October 30 and urged him to make a particular effort to respond swiftly when problems arise and to prevent them in advance.

President Lee Jaemyung poses for a commemorative photo with Special Inspector General Choi Gilsu after presenting him with his letter of appointment at the Blue House on the 30th. 2026.10.30 Yonhap News

Senior Presidential Spokesperson Kang Yujeong said in a written briefing that President Lee held a tea meeting at the Blue House that morning after presenting letters of appointment to the chairs and vice chairs of presidential committees and to special advisers.

At the meeting, President Lee told Special Inspector General Choi that he had a great deal of work to do and stressed that, above all, swift initial responses and prevention were important when problems arise. His remarks were understood to mean that the Special Inspector General should not only monitor allegations of misconduct involving people close to the president, but also faithfully carry out the role of identifying risk factors before problems come to light.

The Special Inspector General is an independent body that investigates misconduct by the president's spouse, relatives within the fourth degree of kinship, and senior officials at or above the level of senior secretary in the Presidential Office. As an institutional mechanism that supports the president's administration while also checking the possibility of misconduct within the centers of power, the future work of Special Inspector General Choi is drawing attention.

President Lee also stressed the need for effective advice, saying that presidential committees should not remain merely formal organizations. He asked the experts involved in each field to actively and frequently put forward a range of opinions.

In particular, he asked Baek Jong-woo, vice chair of the National Life Safety Committee, to focus not only on reducing workplace accident deaths, suicides, and deaths among people living alone, but also on reducing traffic fatalities. He added that the country must face the reality that more than 20,000 people die each year before they can live out their natural lifespan.

President Lee urged Park Jeong-hyeon, chair of the Presidential Committee on the Local Era, to faithfully fulfill the role, given the many tasks to pursue, including balanced development and policies centered on local communities. Emphasizing that presidential committees serve as a channel for conveying voices from the field, President Lee said that he, too, carefully follows up on proposals made by the committees.

He urged the newly appointed special advisers to be particularly careful in their words and conduct. His remarks reflected the need for them to act prudently and responsibly, as their words and actions could be interpreted as the government's official position.

President Lee Jaemyung poses for a commemorative photo after presenting an appointment letter to Ha Jungwoo, vice chair of the National AI Strategy Committee, at Cheong Wa Dae on October 30, 2026. Yonhap News, October 30, 2026.

Those who received appointment letters that day were Kye Seung-gyun, chair of the Presidential Council on Intellectual Property; Ha Jungwoo, vice chair of the National AI Strategy Committee; Kim Gi-young, chair of the National Library Committee; Baek Jong-woo, vice chair of the National Life Safety Committee; Park Jeong-hyeon, chair of the Presidential Committee on the Local Era; and Hong Mi-young, chair of the National Committee on Sustainable Development. Special advisers Kim Gyeong-su for political affairs, Song Yeong-gil for peace and diplomacy, and Kim Byeong-ju for defense policy also received appointment letters. During the tea meeting, Kim Gi-young, chair of the National Library Committee, expressed gratitude, saying it was the first time since the committee was established that its chair had received an appointment letter directly from the president.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.