The prosecution has sought arrest warrants for three government officials who allegedly deleted documents related to the controversial closure of the Wolsong-1 nuclear reactor.

The Daejeon District Prosecutors Office on Wednesday requested a local court to issue the warrants for three officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on charges of destroying public records and disrupting the state auditors' inspection.

The Board of Audit Inspection(BAI) earlier claimed that the three officials destroyed 444 materials and files about the government's decision to terminate the operation of Wolsong-1, right before the BAI ordered the submission of the documents in November last year.

The warrant request came a day after Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl returned to work after a court approved the injunction request against his suspension ordered by Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae. 

There has been controversy over the closure of Wolsong-1, the country's second-oldest nuclear reactor. The BAI earlier concluded that the shutdown decision was based on biased research, which undervalued the reactor's economic viability.