SEOUL– Prosecutors questioned a former chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office on Friday as part of an investigation into alleged irregularities involving the justice ministry’s 2020 inspection of then Prosecutor General Yoon Suk-yeol.
The probe centers on allegations that the justice ministry under former Minister Choo Mi-ae conducted an internal inspection of Yoon in 2020, with an intention to dismiss him as prosecutor general.
As the result of the inspection, Yoon was suspended from his duty for two months in late 2020 for multiple alleged misdeeds, including meddling in a politically sensitive investigation case.
Lee Sung-yoon, who was serving as the chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office at the time, was accused of involvement in the transfer of key prosecution evidence in a separate case to the justice ministry’s inspection committee for use in Yoon’s case.
Lee, currently a researcher at the Institute of Justice, appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office for questioning that is expected to center on whether he approved the transfer of the investigation evidence or illegitimately used his influence in the process.
Source: Yonhap News Agency