This file photo shows the emblem of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — A special counsel team investigating alleged pressure and cover-up attempts in the death of a Marine conscript on Friday raided the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and former senior prosecutors of the agency.
According to the team, the move was aimed at securing evidence on why the CIO, which opened an investigation into the case in August 2023, failed to produce substantial results and delayed its probe for more than a year and a half.
The investigation focuses on circumstances surrounding the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who was swept away by a swollen stream in Yecheon, 161 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in July 2023 while on a search mission for victims of heavy rains.
The team carried out the raid at the CIO headquarters inside the government complex in Gwacheon, south of Seoul.
They were reported to have searched offices used by former CIO division chiefs, including Song Chang-jin, a former senior prosecutor of the CIO’s second investigation division.
Earlier in the day, investigators also raided the former prosecutors’ residences to seize mobile phones and other items.
The scope of the investigation includes possible abuses of power or dereliction of duty tied to suspected outside pressure on the CIO’s probe into the alleged cover-up and suppression of the Marine’s death case. At the time, suspicions had been raised that external pressure was behind the delays in the CIO’s investigation.
(Yonhap)
