Senior prosecutor faces reprimand for misconduct

A former lead prosecution investigator in the high-profile election-meddling case involving the state spy agency is facing a discipline for failing to follow his superiors' instructions, the top prosecution office said Monday.

Wrapping up an internal inspection, the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office (SPPO) said it has asked the Ministry of Justice to suspend Yoon Seok-youl for failing to report to his bosses before pressing additional charges in the case and detaining some intelligence service agents suspected of involvement.

Yoon was dismissed last month from a prosecution investigation team looking into allegations that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) agents wrote comments on message boards of major portal sites during last year's presidential election, in an apparent smear campaign to swing public opinion in favor of President Park Geun-hye, then the ruling party candidate.

Yoon later argued that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief, Cho Young-kon, impeded the investigation, prompting political controversies that there was an outside pressure to play down the scandal.

Yoon also said his unit was under pressure from the ministry to soft-pedal the case, prompting Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn to issue a public denial.

The SPPO said it has also asked the ministry to suspend Park Hyung-cheol, deputy head of Yoon's investigation team, for his role in the team's failure to report to senior prosecutors.

  "In a majority opinion, the inspection committee recommended (the ministry) to suspend Yoon and Park to face a pay cut," Kim Hoon, the head of the committee said. "Nothing has yet been decided as (the SPPO) has also asked for the disciplinary action."

The level of the discipline will be later decided by the ministry, Kim added.

On the other hand, the SPPO said it has cleared Cho of the accusations that he impeded the probe or applied pressure on Yoon and his investigators.

Lee Jin-han, another senior prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, has been cleared of suspicions that he did not properly supervise his subordinates, the SPPO said. (Yonhap News)