The military prosecution has reprimanded one of its staff for demanding a large sum of money from a two-star general whom he had been investigating in a corruption case, sources said Wednesday.

The authorities ordered a one-month reduction in the prosecutor’s pay.

The prosecutor, whose name was withheld, had been investigating the general since he learned that the high-level officer was offered expensive dinner and drinks by a private company for which one of his military academy alumni works.

The prosecutor suspected that the general had inappropriate connections with the firm. During his investigation, the prosecutor allegedly demanded hundreds of millions of won from the general indirectly through a third person, the sources said.

“It appears that the prosecutor has been excessively probing the general to find out if there is any illicit collusion between him and the private firm. Thus, we have decided to dismiss him from the prosecution position,” an official told the media, declining to be named.

The prosecution sought to obtain a search warrant to scrutinize the disgraced prosecutor’s bank accounts, but the military court rejected the request for a warrant for an unspecified reason. The prosecution said it would continue to look into the case.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)