2 former spy chiefs from Moon administration referred to prosecution over alleged hiring misconduct

▲ Park Jie-won, a former director of the National Intelligence, appears for police questioning in Seoul over allegations of hiring irregularities, in this file photo taken July 1, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ Suh Hoon, a former director of the National Intelligence, appears at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, in this file photo taken June 30, 2023. (Yonhap)

ex-NIS chiefs-hiring corruption

2 former spy chiefs from Moon administration referred to prosecution over alleged hiring misconduct

SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- Police have referred two intelligence chiefs from the previous Moon Jae-in administration to the prosecution for further investigation into allegations of hiring irregularities, officials said Monday.

The National Office of Investigation said Park Jie-won and Suh Hoon, both former directors of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), were handed over to the prosecution on July 31.

Suh and Park, who served as NIS directors from 2017 to 2020 and from 2020 to 2022, respectively, are suspected of abusing their authority to secure employment positions for people close to them at the Institute for National Security Strategy, an entity affiliated with the NIS.

The intelligence agency reportedly became aware of the alleged misconduct during an internal inspection and requested a police investigation early this year.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency conducted searches at their residences on May 24 and questioned Suh and Park on June 10 and July 1, respectively.

Three people believed to have been granted preferential treatment in the hiring process were also summoned as witnesses in June.

In a separate case, both former spy chiefs were indicted in December for their involvement in covering up the death of a fisheries official at the hands of North Korean soldiers near a maritime border in 2020.

Suh is also facing a trial for his role in forcibly repatriating two North Korean fishermen against their expressed desire to defect in 2019.

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