The police have raided the offices of construction unions affiliated with the country's two largest umbrella labor organizations as part of a probe into alleged irregularities at construction sites.

Investigators from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency were dispatched on Thursday morning to carry out evidence seizures at five offices of the construction union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions as well as three offices of the construction union of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions.

The police also sent investigators to eight houses of officials of the construction unions to search and seize evidence.

The raids are related to an investigation reportedly launched by the police into allegations that the unions coerced employers to hire certain workers or demanded money from laborers in exchange for job opportunities.

The police agency said it began conducting a special crackdown on such irregularities at construction sites on December 8, arresting two people, with an investigation under way of 126 people in 13 cases.

Source: KBS World Radio