The presidential office said a 2017 decision made by the office of the senior presidential civil affairs secretary regarding a special inspection into alleged bribery by a former Busan city vice mayor was within its authority.

In correspondence to local media outlets on Monday, senior presidential secretary for public communication Yoon Do-han said the top office is not obligated to seek the prosecution's permission in making every political decision.

Yoon's remarks came after state prosecutors filed for a pretrial detention warrant for former Justice Minister Cho Kuk on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of duty.

Cho, who was the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs in 2017, is suspected of being involved in alleged intervention by the top office in an inspection of former Busan Vice Mayor Yoo Jae-soo.

The inspection into bribery allegations surrounding Yoo from the time he worked for the Financial Services Commission was abruptly suspended and Yoo went on to become Busan's vice mayor for economic affairs from last July until recently.

Yoon said the office of the senior civil affairs secretary at the time was not authorized to launch an investigation and notified the agency which Yoo worked for about the allegations.