Seoul:A special counsel team has requested a one-year prison sentence for the head of South Korea's anti-graft agency on charges of dereliction of duty. The charges relate to a criminal complaint filed against one of his subordinates.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the special counsel, led by Lee Myeong-hyeon, made the request for Oh Dong-woon, the chief prosecutor of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), during the final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court.

Oh Dong-woon is accused of attempting to suppress an investigation into Song Chang-jin, a former senior CIO prosecutor. The criminal complaint against Song was filed by then opposition Democratic Party (DP) lawmakers in August 2024. Oh is alleged to have failed to forward the complaint to the Supreme Prosecutors Office, as mandated by law, for 11 months. The special counsel team contends that Oh deliberately tried to hinder the investigation into Song.

The complaint by DP lawmakers accused Song of perjuring himself at the National Assembly regarding comments he made about a high-profile investigation into the 2023 death of a young Marine.