New chief named to anti-corruption body

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday named a new chief prosecutor of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, after a vacancy of about three months.

Oh Dong-woon, formerly a judge and attorney, was nominated to lead the CIO, which is currently spearheading a high-profile investigation into the death of a Marine in July last year.

Cpl. Chae Su-geun died at the age of 20 when he was swept away in moving water during a search and rescue operation to find people who had gone missing amid record heavy rainfall in Yecheon North Gyeongsang Province.

Lee Jong-sup, the former defense minister who stepped down following the Marine’s death, lost his appointment as ambassador to Australia in March, amid criticism concerning the travel ban that had been ordered for him by the CIO.

Oh, if successfully appointed, would fill the top post at the CIO that has been vacant since its first and previous chief Kim Jin-wook left after his term of office expired in January.

The CIO, a controversial body from its birth, was established in January 2021 under the previous Moon Jae-in administration amid a push to reform the country’s prosecutorial service.