The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, or CIO, has selected as its first case for consideration a power abuse dispute involving the Seoul Education chief. 

The office said on Monday that it began probing allegations against Seoul Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon as Case No. 1. The liberal superintendent is accused of instructing officials to consider hiring or rehire five dismissed teachers through a special employment review process. 

The charge was known to the public last month after the Board of Audit and Inspection(BAI) made public the results of its audit and filed a criminal complaint against Cho. The BAI also handed its probe results to the CIO at the time. 

The CIO, an independent investigative body dedicated to examining crimes by high-ranking officials, was launched in January as a ruling bloc initiative on prosecution reform. The main opposition People Power Party had boycotted its creation, saying the agency would be used against political opponents.