The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigating the Justice Ministry's alleged violation in issuing a travel ban against former Vice Minister Kim Hak-ui in 2019 has questioned the district chief as a witness.

The investigative team reportedly called in Moon Hong-seung, the head of the district office, for questioning last week, as he was the senior researcher at the anti-corruption department of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office(SPO) at the time.

According to a second statement from the whistleblower on the case, the Anyang branch of the Suwon district office was forced to suspend its probe into the alleged violation at the time by the anti-corruption unit.

The then-head of the anti-corruption unit was Lee Sung-yoon, the current head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and the current investigation may soon zero in on Lee.

Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry has extended the month-long temporary appointment of Lim Se-jin, the senior prosecutor at the Pyeongtaek branch, to the investigative team by another month until March 14.