Former National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Park Jie-won was questioned by police Saturday over charges he had illegally meddled in the organization's hiring decisions.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said it summoned Park to question his allegedly illicit role in hiring people close to him for a NIS-affiliated agency.

Last month, another ex-NIS chief, Suh Hoon, was interrogated by police over the same charges.

Suh served as NIS director from 2017-20, and Park from 2020-22, both under the previous Moon Jae-in administration.

The spy agency reportedly learned of such hirings in a recent internal inspection of personnel affairs during the Moon administration and requested a police investigation.

Suh, who also worked as the national security adviser for Moon, was arrested in December last year over alleged irregularities surrounding the 2020 death of a South Korean fisheries official at the hands of North Korea. He was granted bail in April.

Source: Yonhap News Agency