Rival parties agree to adopt report on special inspector nominee Choi on Oct 22

Ruling and opposition parties agreed on 19 October to adopt the confirmation hearing report on special inspector general nominee Choi Gil-su (최길수) on 22 October. According to the office of Kim Ui-gyeom, the Democratic Party's secretary on the National Assembly Judiciary Committee, the committee will hold a plenary meeting during the Prosecution Service (공소청) audit and attach both qualified and unqualified opinions to the report. The hearing was held on 18 September, about a month earlier. [ 12 , 16 , 19 , 20 ]

Earlier that day, Kim said consultations between the parties' secretaries on attaching both opinions were under way and that the report would be handled during the audit once they were complete. Democratic Party spokesperson Cho Gye-won said appointment procedures would probably begin once the audit ends. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 9 ]

The parties disagreed over who caused the delay. Kim said he proposed reviewing the report on the day of the hearing but the opposition said it would not agree to adopt it. He said that at the 21 September plenary meeting only the opposition secretary attended and said he would not cooperate, so the matter was postponed. [ 9 , 10 , 16 ]

Park Hyung-soo (박형수), the People Power Party's secretary on the committee, called that account inaccurate. He said he told Kim the report could be adopted without his party's members present if the party's unqualified opinion was attached. His office said the party had not agreed to a qualified opinion on Choi but had not opposed adopting the report. Park said continued delay would draw public suspicion that Cheong Wa Dae was avoiding the appointment. [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 16 ]

At the Judiciary Committee audit, People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo (주진우) asked why the special inspector had not been appointed. Kim said the post oversees the president and the presidential office, and that he had wanted a qualified finding agreed by both sides. He said that, given the opposition's demand, a date should be set as soon as possible, even before the audit ends. [ 11 ]

President Lee Jae-myung told Cheong Wa Dae reporters on 19 October that he had asked for a quick appointment but had heard the opposition was against it. He said he had asked for an inquiry into whether there was any way to proceed. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that the National Assembly recommended three lawyers in August and Lee nominated Choi. It said the post has been vacant since the first special inspector, Lee Seok-su (이석수), resigned in 2016. [ 12 , 20 ]