[단독]North Korean nuclear power plant document that was deleted was found on a neighbor’s computer

It was confirmed that the documents related to the North Korean nuclear power plant, which was deleted by the secretary A of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, were transferred to the computers of other employees from the nuclear power plant where the secretary worked. The Ministry of Industry said, “There is no one directly involved in this document except for the secretary A.” Questions are amplifying.

According to the Ministry of Industry on the 1st, shortly after a report was released that there was a document related to North Korea’s nuclear power plant support among documents deleted by Secretary A last year, the Ministry of Industry began work on finding the document file. The computer used by Clerk A was deleted and could not be recovered. However, the document file was found on the computers of the nuclear power plant industry and my other colleagues.

This document is a six-page report titled “Promotion Plan for Nuclear Power Plant Construction in North Korea,” prepared by Clerk A in May 2018. There are three support plans for building nuclear power plants in North Korea’s Sinpo and Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), where the Korean Peninsula Energy Agency (KEDO) tried to build light water reactors in the past, or completing Shinhanul 3 and 4 units to transmit power to North Korea.

This document was an unofficial document that was not registered in the electronic approval system from the beginning. In addition to the secretary A, the Ministry of Industry reports that only Director B, who was the head of the department at the time, would have reported.

An official from the Ministry of Industry who requested anonymity said, “Clerk A may have moved it directly or it may have been moved by sharing it on the internal network.”

Looking at the audit report related to the early closure of Wolsong, the Audit Office, Clerk A said, “We deleted the business folders related to Wolsong Unit 1 in order not to submit audit data.” Inside and outside the Ministry of Industry, the file should not be erased, and since there was a great need to continue developing the content, interpretations are being made that it was kept away from the eyes of the auditor’s surveillance. As explained by the Ministry of Industry, it may not be’a matter that was written and closed at the level of internal ideas’.

Another official from the Ministry of Industry said, “Why the document was transferred to another colleague’s computer is really a mystery”. “It may have been left for reference because there is a possibility to proceed with the North Korean nuclear power plant in the future. I have.”

However, inside the Ministry of Industry, the atmosphere is wary of expanding interpretation. There is a problem with the’procedure’ that the document was discarded prior to the audit of the auditor, but if you look at the contents, it is a’simple idea dimension’, the Ministry of Industry explained. The opposition argues that “I tried to hide it by making up a word like a password like the Finnish word pokeyois (north),” but the name of the folder ‘Peyoyis’ reflects the personal career and taste of the scribe who studied abroad in Finland.

It is pointed out that it is not an official document that there are multiple versions of the file name in relation to the nuclear power plant support. Usually, when working-level staff drafts a draft and makes a revised version, they are saved in multiple versions to preserve previous ideas. If it was the final report, it means that there should be a separate file titled final.

However, even the internal documents of the idea level can be reported to the upper line such as the minister without electronic approval registration. The Ministry of Industry seems to have reviewed the document up to the section manager, but it is a position that it “did not confirm” whether the document was reported to the upper line. Former Minister Paik Woon-gyu, who was on the final report line at the time, drew a line in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo in the past, saying, “The documents related to nuclear power plant support have not been reviewed, discussed, and have not been reported.”

Sejong = Reporter Kim Namjun [email protected]