Justice Minister Park Beom-kye has ordered an investigation into allegations that prosecutors had forced witnesses to give false testimony in a bribery trial involving former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook.

In a directive to acting prosecutor-general Cho Nam-kwan, Park ordered another review, saying concerns over fairness have been raised in the way the case was handled previously. 

The minister asked the Supreme Prosecutor's Office to convene a meeting of senior prosecutors and deliberate on possible charges and indictments against witnesses who were said to have given false statements.

The meeting should also hold sufficient discussions, receive briefings and hear opinions from members of the prosecution's inspection unit.

Prosecutors are told to then decide by Monday, when a related statute of limitations expires, whether to book or indict witnesses accused of perjury. 

Former prime minister Han served a two-year jail term for accepting illicit political funds from a late businessman, Han Man-ho, while in office.

But calls for a reinvestigation surfaced following speculation that prosecutors may have forced witnesses in the trial to give false testimony to win Han's conviction.