INVESTIGATIONS OVER FORMER NIS CHIEF

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Prosecutors are investigating former NIS chief Park Jie-won for alleged defamation and violation of the election law. On Monday the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials requested prosecutors to subpoena Park. However, the CIO dropped charges against him of inciting a whistleblower to tip off an online news outlet for a series of supposed hit pieces on Yoon.

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I have information that former Prosecutor-general Yoon Suk-yeol exercised influence over the bribery case of former Yongsan Tax Office chief Yoon Woo-jin. These are the words of former NIS chief Park Jie-won from his interviews with the media last September. The CIO has requested prosecutors to put Park on trial for defaming Yoon and spreading false information about him to derail his presidential campaign. Seoul Prosecutors have launched a probe into whether Park's remarks constitute defamation and are in violation of the Public Officials Election Act. The prosecutors will also look into other involved figures, including Cho Sung-eun. She is the whistleblower who claimed Yoon secretly asked a PPP lawmaker to file a complaint against pro-government figures for their alleged smear campaign against Yoon. The case is being handled by the prosecution because it's not subject to a CIO probe. Prosecutors have vowed to thoroughly investigate the matter according to the law. The CIO has decided not to indict Park and Cho for pre-mediating how and when to report the scandal. Park says he has been cleared of the key accusation that he incited a whistleblower to tip off the online news outlet for Yoon's smear campaign. He blasted the CIO for requesting prosecutors to indict him only for violating the election law.