South Korea: Head, deputy chief of anti-corruption agency indicted over Marine death case

Seoul, Nov 26 (IANS) A special counsel team in South Korea on Wednesday indicted the head and deputy chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) without detention on charges of dereliction of duty in connection with its investigation into the 2023 death of a young Marine.

It marked the first time the agency’s leadership has been indicted since its establishment in 2021.

CIO Chief Prosecutor Oh Dong-woon and Lee Jae-seung, the agency’s deputy chief, are accused of failing to notify the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office for 11 months when a CIO prosecutor became subject to a criminal complaint in August last year, as required by law.

Democratic Party lawmakers had filed the complaint against then CIO prosecutor Song Chang-jin for allegedly lying under oath at the National Assembly over his knowledge regarding an individual linked to the Marine death case, reports Yonhap news agency.

The special counsel team, investigating alleged interference by former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s administration in the Marine death case, believes no action took place over the complaint as the agency viewed it as a political attack on its leadership.

Separately, the team believes some CIO officials, including Song, obstructed the agency’s investigation at the time over the allegations surrounding the Marine death case to apparently prevent it from targeting Yoon.

The team indicted Song on charges of abuse of authority for allegedly obstructing efforts to seek search-and-seizure warrants against Yoon and former Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup in connection with the case.

The move comes after the team last week indicted Yoon on charges of exerting undue pressure on the military’s investigation into Cpl. Chae Su-geun’s death in July 2023.

–IANS

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