The Marine special counsel team and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) sparred on the 28th over the schedule to summon CIO Minister Oh Dong-woon. Minister Oh is under investigation by the special counsel on suspicion of dereliction of duty.
The clash began when Special Counsel Team Deputy Special Prosecutor Jeong Min-young said at a press briefing, "We plan to conduct a suspect interrogation of Minister Oh starting at 9:30 a.m. on the 31st of this month."
The CIO then said at a regular briefing, "It is regrettable that, even though the appearance schedule of a CIO-related figure has not been finalized, it was disclosed in advance to the outside through the special counsel."
The CIO did not stop there. At about 2:30 p.m., it notified the press, saying, "As of now, regarding the appearance schedule, the CIO Minister has not been officially notified by the special counsel," and, "The schedule for the summons investigation has not been finalized either."
In response, the special counsel issued a rebuttal at about 3 p.m. The special counsel said, "On Oct. 16, the special counsel sent Minister Oh a demand letter stating, 'Appear before the special counsel on Oct. 28,'" and added, "The letter reached the CIO on Oct. 17, the day after it was sent." The special counsel continued, "On the evening of Oct. 26, Minister Oh's attorney contacted the special counsel and said that 'appearing on Oct. 28 would be difficult' and conveyed the intent to appear on Oct. 31."
Meanwhile, Minister Oh is under suspicion of dereliction of duty. The special counsel believes there is suspicion that Minister Oh intentionally delayed an investigation without notifying the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of a case in which former Senior Prosecutor Song Chang-jin was accused by the National Assembly of perjury at last year's parliamentary audit. Earlier, the National Assembly determined that former Senior Prosecutor Song's statement—"did not know that former Black Pearl Invest CEO Lee Jong-ho was involved in the alleged lobbying to save former 1st Marine Division Commander Im Seong-geun"—was perjury.