Special Prosecutor in Marine Death Case Seeks 1-Year Term for CIO Chief Oh Dongwoon over "Protecting Its Own"

Lee Jaeseung and Park Seokil also face one-year prison terms
Kim Seongyu and Song Changjin each face three years
“Perjury case left unaddressed for 11 months... protecting the agency”

The special prosecution team investigating the death of a Marine sought a one-year prison term for Oh Dongwoon, head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), who was indicted on suspicion of leaving a case involving allegations that a chief prosecutor in his agency committed perjury before the National Assembly unaddressed for 11 months.

Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials Chief Oh Dong-woon answers questions about the decision to release President Yoon Suk Yeol from detention during a plenary meeting of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee on March 12, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyun-min.

The special prosecution team led by Lee Myunghyun made the request on November 5 during closing arguments in the trial of Oh and current and former CIO officials on charges including dereliction of duty and abuse of authority. The trial was held before the 23rd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Oh Seyong. The team also sought one-year prison terms for CIO Deputy Chief Lee Jaeseung and former Chief Prosecutor of Investigation Division 3 Park Seokil, who were indicted alongside Oh, and three-year prison terms for former Chief Prosecutor of Investigation Division 1 Kim Seongyu and former Chief Prosecutor of Investigation Division 2 Song Changjin.

The special prosecution team argued that Oh and the others deliberately left unaddressed a complaint alleging perjury by former Chief Prosecutor Song without notifying the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Article 25, Paragraph 1 of the CIO Act requires the agency to notify the Supreme Prosecutors' Office when it discovers evidence of a crime by one of its prosecutors.

The special prosecution team said, "This provision is intended to prevent the CIO from investigating and determining the guilt of its own members," and pointed out that the office should have notified the Supreme Prosecutors' Office as soon as it received the complaint from the National Assembly. According to the team, of the 60 cases involving CIO prosecutors received by the agency from January 2023 through October 2025, 50 were transferred to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and nine were dismissed. The case involving former Chief Prosecutor Song was the only one left unresolved.

The special prosecution team argued that former Chief Prosecutor Park was involved in obstructing the investigation of former Chief Prosecutor Song, yet personally took charge of the case and drafted a document suggesting there was no basis for the allegations just two days after the complaint was filed. It also said that Oh reassigned the case to a prosecutor directly subordinate to former Chief Prosecutor Song and ordered a review of two requests to transfer the case.

Former Chief Prosecutors Kim and Song were indicted on suspicion of obstructing the investigation into allegations of outside pressure on the probe into the death of a Marine while serving as acting CIO chief and deputy chief during the first half of 2024. The special prosecution team criticized them, saying they had "privatized the authority to serve as acting officials entrusted to them by the public" and that "the investigation team's legitimate authority to investigate was trampled."

The special prosecution team stressed, "This is a case in which the leadership of an agency created to investigate power-related crimes used its authority to obstruct an investigation and even covered up perjury by one of its own members," calling it "a prime example of the entrenched practice of going easy on and protecting one's own." It added, "The investigation that began with the death of a 20-year-old Marine was derailed once in the face of the president's fury, and then derailed again at the CIO," and called for strict punishment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.