The chief of South Korea's corporate watchdog said Thursday that his agency will redouble its efforts to regain the trust of citizens amid the prosecution's probe into alleged job irregularities involving former senior officials.

On Wednesday, investigators raided the offices of the Fair Trade Commission as part of an investigation into allegations that former senior officials of the anti-trust watchdog landed jobs they were not supposed to after retirement.

Investigators from the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office searched FTC offices at the central administrative city of Sejong for evidence to back up suspicions that former top officials moved to posts at organizations related to their former duties.

"It is not proper to mention (the probe)," FTC Chairman Kim Sang-jo said in a radio interview. "I think we have not fully won citizens' trust. ... We need to make more efforts (to regain confidence from the public)," he said.

The Public Service Ethics Act stipulates that for three years after retirement, senior government officials are banned from taking jobs related to their duties of the past five years.

Investigators are also looking into suspicions that some FTC officials unfairly handled anti-trust cases involving conglomerates. The case could snowball if the alleged collusive ties between the watchdog and conglomerates are confirmed. (Yonhap)