President Lee Jae-myung has approved the appointment of Special Inspector nominee Choi Gil-soo.

Kang Yu-jung, chief spokesperson for Cheong Wa Dae, announced earlier today (October 23), "President Lee approved the appointment of Special Inspector nominee Choi Gil-soo, whose confirmation hearing report was adopted through bipartisan consensus."

The Special Inspector is an independent agency tasked with investigating the president's spouse, relatives within the fourth degree of kinship, and Cheong Wa Dae officials at or above the senior presidential secretary level.

With today's appointment, the vacancy in the Special Inspector post, which had persisted for more than 10 years since inaugural inspector Lee Seok-su resigned in 2016 during the Park Geun-hye administration, has finally come to an end.

Earlier yesterday (October 22), the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee passed the motion to adopt nominee Choi's confirmation hearing report by bipartisan agreement.

Nominee Choi's confirmation hearing report explicitly stated both "suitable" and "unsuitable" opinions.

While the confirmation hearing for nominee Choi was held on September 18, the adoption of the report had been delayed for more than a month due to differences between the ruling and opposition parties.

(Photo: Yonhap News)