[단독]Ministry of Industry employee “Wolsung economics operation, instructed by Baek Woon-gyu”

On the 9th, the prosecution secured a statement from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy officials related to the early closure of the Wolseong nuclear power plant, that “there was the direction and involvement of Minister Paik Woon-gyu in the process of lowering the utilization rate and unit price, which are key variables in the economic evaluation.” Confirmed. Accordingly, the prosecution set a policy to conduct investigations against Cheong Wa Dae officials, including former industrial policy secretary Chae Hee-bong, despite the court’s dismissal of the arrest warrant against Baek.

According to JoongAng Ilbo’s coverage, the Daejeon District Prosecutor’s Office (Director Sang-Hyeon Lee), the Daejeon District Prosecutor’s Office, presented the statement as one of the reasons for requesting the warrant during the substantive examination of the warrant by Minister Baek in 2018.

According to the audit results of the Audit and Inspection Office, Samdeok Accounting Firm, which was in charge of the economic feasibility evaluation service for Wolseong Unit 1, evaluated the economic feasibility of continuing operation of the Wolseong Unit 1 at 277 billion won in the initial analysis on May 3, 2018. However, after several meetings with the Ministry of Industry and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, the final evaluation on June 11 of the same year concluded the economic feasibility of -9.1 billion won. The use rate (85% → 60%) and the selling price (average 63.11 won → 51.52 won per 1 kWh), which are the key variables in the economic evaluation, were lowered as the meeting went through, so the’surplus’ nuclear power plant turned into a’deficit’ nuclear power plant.

When the prosecution inquired about the process of changing the key figures in the economic feasibility assessment, some of the officials of the Ministry of Industry stated that “there was an instruction or involvement from Minister Baek.” They said that they also stated that they “reported this process to former Minister Baek one by one.”

Of the three people who were prosecuted in December last year for deleting 530 files just before the audit of the Audit and Inspection Office, Manager Jeong Mo told Minister Paik in April 2018 at the audit of the auditor that Wolseong Unit 1 was permanently suspended by the Atomic Energy Safety Committee until permission to change operation. He stated that he reported a plan to continue operation for about two and a half years. However, it was revealed that Baek rebuked General Manager Chung and ordered “reconsideration with immediate shutdown”.

It is reported that the prosecution also confiscated a number of evidences indicating the circumstances of the operation while the economic feasibility of the Wolseong Unit 1 decreased.

However, officials of the Ministry of Industry said that they did not report to the secretary of Baek when they deleted the files related to Wolsong Unit 1 in December 2019. This is because, at the time of the audit of the Board of Audit and Inspection, it has been a year and three months since former Minister Baek resigned from his post as a minister.

In the early morning of the 9th, the court dismissed the arrest warrant that the prosecutors had filed against Baek for abuse of authority and obstruction of business. Oh Se-yong, the deputy chief judge in charge of the Warrant of the Daejeon District Court, said, “It is not enough to say that the data submitted so far have sufficiently clarified the alleged crime, and there seems to be room for dispute over the alleged crime, so it is necessary to guarantee the right to defend in the state of disregard.” The reason for dismissing the warrant was revealed.

In the process of the warrant deliberation, former Minister Baek claimed that “we did not instruct or intervene to correct the economic variables of Wolsong Unit 1”. Even when the Ministry of Industry officials stated that they had reported the process one by one, he refuted with the effect that “I don’t remember at all, and the alibi is not right because some are on a business trip abroad.”

“The early closure of Wolsong Unit 1 was a state-run project that put the safety of the people first,” said Baek, while attending the warrant examination. “Based on laws and principles, the business was handled through due process.”

Baek’s lawyer pointed out that “the legal structure, such as abuse of the prosecution’s authority, is poor.” There was no specific content of victims or specific behavior sharing.

The prosecution identified victims of abuse and obstruction of authority as KHNP and KHNP officials, but the economic evaluation was the logic that KHNP could not be a victim because Samdeok Accounting Firm designated by KHNP was in charge. Regarding the prosecution’s claim that the Ministry of Industry pressured KHNP to close the Wolsong 1 unit early, he emphasized that KHNP decided autonomously through the board of directors.

The prosecution also confirmed that Baek had contacted a high-ranking official at the Blue House as well as a Democratic Party lawmaker while the audit was underway. In addition, even when officials of the Ministry of Industry deleted 530 documents, it further revealed the situation in which Baek had communicated several times with related parties.

Former Minister Baek said, “There is such a fact, but it has nothing to do with the crime.” Said the position.

The prosecution failed to secure recruits for the main suspects in this case, but as the situation of the involvement of the superiors such as Baek was revealed, it is planning to continue the investigation into the Blue House, including former Blue House industrial policy secretary Chae Hee-bong. An official at the prosecution gave a brief official response, saying, “It is difficult to understand the reason for dismissing the warrant, but we will investigate more thoroughly.”

The prosecution plans to refine the law in the future and make every effort to prosecute Baek.

In the legal community, former Minister of Environment Kim Eun-kyung pointed out that the arrest warrant was dismissed at the time of the’Ministry of Environment blacklist’ investigation, but the final result could not be predicted as he was sentenced to two years and six months in prison at the first trial on that day and was arrested by the court.

One official said, “The crime of abuse of power is guilty when it is admitted that the public official has illegally used the authority to do something that the other person is not obligated to do.” It is similar to the former minister’s case, so we have to see whether a crime is established or not.”

Reporters Kang Kwang-woo and Jung Yu-jin [email protected]