Audit scope and Kim Hyun-ji investigation emerge as key issues at special inspector confirmation hearing

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing on the 18th for Choi Kil-soo, the presidential nominee for special inspector, where the ruling and opposition parties clashed over the scope of the inspector's audits, including the possibility of auditing the Yoon Suk Yeol government and investigating Lee Dong-ho, the president's son.

The Democratic Party of Korea called for an audit of the former Yoon Suk Yeol government. Rep. Kim Dong-ah argued that an audit was needed to determine whether illegal solicitation or interference in personnel affairs occurred while the Yoon government operated without appointing a senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, with secretaries handling the duties instead. Rep. Park Ji-won referred to the Yoon administration as an "insurrection regime" and said the law allows auditing wrongdoing by former presidents' senior secretaries.

Rep. Ju Jin-woo of the People Power Party released at the hearing an SNS screenshot apparently showing Lee Dong-ho with a coin trader of Chinese nationality, arguing for the need to investigate. Rep. Ju claimed that Lee's assets had grown from 3.93 million won at the end of 2024 to 168 million won within a year, including 41 million won in cryptocurrency. Democratic Party Rep. Kim Han-gyu pointed out that the photo had been released by Garosero Research Institute (a YouTube channel), whose operator was indicted in custody for spreading false information.

Following the hearing, the parties agreed to leave the adoption of the confirmation report on the nominee to consultations between the parties' floor secretaries. The hearing ended without a decision on whether to adopt the report.