The presidential office is reported to have officially activated a public office inspection team under the Civil Affairs Office on the 26th. Attorney Lee Kyung-sik (Judicial Research and Training Institute 36th class) has been appointed as the head of the inspection team.
According to a comprehensive report from ChosunBiz, the presidential office decided to establish a public office inspection team under the Secretariat for Civil Affairs and received 12 personnel from the prosecution, police, National Tax Service, and Board of Audit and Inspection. Some members of the inspection team reportedly started working from that day.
It is reported that Attorney Lee Kyung-sik has been appointed as the head of the inspection team. He started his career as a prosecutor at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office in 2007 and worked there until 2018. He was also dispatched to the special investigation team for the illegal manipulation of comments by Deu-king.
According to the presidential office's organizational structure, the inspection team is responsible for collecting intelligence or confirming facts related to corruption involving high-ranking public officials appointed by the president, heads and executives of public institutions and organizations appointed by the president, and the president's relatives and those with special relationships. If necessary, they can request investigations from law enforcement agencies.
The inspection team is known to have been established in 2003 under the name of the Special Inspection Team during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. At that time, the Minister of Civil Affairs was former President Moon Jae-in.
It was later maintained as the Special Inspection Team but became embroiled in controversy when Kim Tae-woo, an investigator of the Special Inspection Team during President Moon Jae-in's term in 2018, revealed that he had conducted civilian surveillance at the direction of superiors. That year, the presidential office changed the name of the Special Inspection Team to the inspection team. After that, Kim served as the head of the Gangseo District Office in Seoul.
Former President Yoon Suk-yeol abolished the Secretariat for Civil Affairs, including the Special Inspection Team, in 2022, claiming he would eliminate the remnants of civilian surveillance. However, as issues regarding public office discipline persisted, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration established a separate team in the office of the Secretary for Public Office Discipline and created an information team at the Office of the Prime Minister, effectively carrying out the tasks of the Special Inspection Team.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that the appointment of the special inspector, as pledged by President Lee Jae-myung, has not yet been carried out. The special inspector is responsible for overseeing the president's relatives and was introduced during the Park Geun-hye administration in 2014. After the first special inspector, Lee Seok-soo, resigned in 2016, the position remained vacant throughout the administrations of Moon Jae-in and Yoon Suk-yeol.