Former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Woon-gyu (left) and President Chae Hee-bong of Korea Gas Corporation (former industrial secretary of the Blue House). yunhap news
The former and current ministers of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that it was “the voluntary decision of the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Council” regarding the early shutdown of the Wolseong nuclear power plant, but the prosecution restored a large number of documents containing the circumstances that the Ministry of Industry intervened in KHNP’s decision at the time. .
KHNP Board of Directors Three weeks ago, Ministry of Industry “must request permanent suspension of Wolseong Unit 1”
The crime list obtained by JoongAng Ilbo on the 29th contains a list of 530 files deleted by three officials from the Ministry of Industry just before the Wolseong Unit 1 audit. Daejeon District Prosecutor’s Office 5th Criminal Division (Director Sang-Hyeon Lee) handed them over to trial in December of last year on charges of damage to public electronic records, violation of the Audit and Inspection Service Act, and intrusion.
Among the files recovered by the prosecution, there was also a document titled ‘180524_ Requests from the President of Han Su-won’, which is believed to have been prepared three weeks before the board of directors of KHNP decided to close Wolseong Unit 1 on June 15, 2018. This document contained the content that KHNP should be requested to make a decision to permanently suspend Wolseong Unit 1 and to give a briefing session to local residents.
Along with this, the prosecution determined that the document ‘180530_ Reference material for KHNP president’s interview’ ‘4234’ was also the material for discussion between the Ministry of Industry and KHNP. Reference materials for the interview with the president of KHH include the need for KHNP’s task force (TF) and accounting firm’s evaluation result of Wolseong Unit 1 utilization rate of 56.7% (the first economic evaluation line utilization rate of 85%), the need for KHNP’s board of directors to decide early closure and immediate shutdown. It contains content such as the need for prior explanation.
Among the 530 files that government officials of the Ministry of Industry deleted just before the audit of the Audit Office in December 2019, the document “Requests to President Han Soo-won” dated May 24, 2018 was also included. This document was written three weeks before the board of directors of KHNP on June 15, 2019, which decided to close Wolseong Unit 1 early.
In the ‘4234’ document, it is necessary to conclude that it is not economical to continue operating the Wolsong unit 1, and since it is a previously reported matter for the Blue House (BH), it is necessary to shut down the operation immediately after the decision to close it early. It was included that the board of directors’ resolution is needed immediately after the election.
Clerk A, who was arrested for deleting documents, said in an investigation by the Audit Office, “The reason for deleting various business folders, including folders related to the Wolseong Unit 1 audit, after entering the office of the Ministry of Industry after 10 p.m. on December 1, 2019 is the following morning. It was because the interview was promised,” he said. “It was deleted in order not to submit the audit data to the auditor and to say that there is no related data.”
He said, “The file name that was’File Creation Date_ Request from President Han Suwon’ was modified to ‘4234’ and deleted,” he said. “When the file was restored, it was to prevent confirmation of what document it was by file name.” .
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power’s President Jeong Jae-hoon attends the General Audit of the Science and Technology Information Broadcasting and Communication Committee held at the National Assembly on October 23 last year and answers questions from members of Congress. yunhap news
“Ministry of Industry, KHNP Board of Directors Date and Results Report in advance”
It was also revealed that the Ministry of Industry reported to the Blue House in advance the details of the meeting results along with the date of the KHNP Board of Directors, which decided to close Wolseong Unit 1 early. The document ‘180523_Energy Conversion Complementary Measures Promotion Status and Future Promotion Schedule (sent to BH)’, which was written on May 23, 2018, reads, “On June 15, 2018, the Board of Directors of KHNP announced that the Wolsong Unit 1 early shutdown and immediate shutdown. “I will decide.” This was the point before the external service evaluation results for the economic feasibility of Wolseong Unit 1 came out. This is why the prosecution is likely to have put pressure on KHNP after the Blue House and the Ministry of Industry decided to close the nuclear power plant in advance.
In June 2018, when the board of directors Han Su-won was imminent, there were also traces that the document for the presidential report was rewritten at the request of the Blue House for revision. It is in the document ‘180610_President’s Energy Conversion (Nuclear Power Plant) Report_Nuclear Power Station_v (Resubmitted to reflect BH revision request)’ In addition, in the press release related to the early closing decision of the board of directors of KHNP, there was also a document ‘180611_ Request for Industrial Secretary’ in consultation with Chehee Hee-bong’s then Cheong Wa Dae industrial secretary about plans to include employment guarantees for workers at Wolsong Unit 1.
The prosecution pointed out that among the files to be deleted, there were documents containing plans for the construction of the North Korean nuclear power plant, civic groups for and against the nuclear power plant, and the KHNP union trend.
On December 2 of last year, the prosecution requested a preliminary arrest warrant for three officials of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy who were involved in deleting internal data related to the Wolseong Unit 1. On the 3rd of the same month, an official is working in the office of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Government Complex Sejong.
Sung Yun-mo and Baek Un-gyu “It was an autonomous decision of KHNP”
The results of this investigation contradict the explanation of the Ministry of Industry related to the Wolseong Unit 1 so far. Minister of Industry Sung Yun-mo said in a state audit last year, “I know that KHNP has not been unfairly forced or pressured in connection with the early closure of Wolsong Unit 1”. I decided. Former Minister of Industry, Baek Woon-gyu, who was recently summoned, said in an interview with the media after the audit results were announced in October of last year, “Khan Soo-won made autonomous decisions independent of the government’s policy decisions.”
Reporters Kang Kwang-woo and Jung Yu-jin [email protected]