Officials of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, arrested for deleting materials related to the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1, were handed over to trial. This is the first time a prosecution has been made in connection with the allegation of suspicion of manipulating the economic feasibility of Wolseong Unit 1.
The Daejeon District Prosecutor’s Office prosecuted three officials from the Ministry of Industry on the 23rd on charges of deleting 444 documents related to the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 or aiding or tolerating them before the auditor’s investigation. Reporter Shin Jin-ho
Application of charges such as damage to the war district prosecution and public electronic records
Woon-gyu Baek and Hee-bong Chae, etc.
Daejeon District Prosecutor’s Office 5th Criminal Division (Director Sang-Hyun Lee) announced on the 23rd that it had prosecuted A (52) and secretary B, an official at the level of the Director General of the Ministry of Industry, who are accused of damage to public electronic records or violation of the Auditor Act, and unconfidentially prosecuted Mr. C (50) at the level of the Director. . They are alleged to have deleted 530 documents related to Wolsong Unit 1 in November last year, just before the submission of data to the Audit Office, or to condone or aided them.
The prosecution said, “In order to interfere with the auditor’s audit, we indicted three public officials who broke into the office and deleted materials such as the early closure of Wolseong nuclear power plant unit 1, and we plan to continue investigating the additional crimes of the defendants and related persons.” Said.
Deletion, aid, and toleration of ‘530 nuclear data’ ahead of the auditor’s investigation
Mr. B entered the office of the Ministry of Industry of the Government’s Sejong Government Complex at around 11 p.m. on the 1st (Sunday) when the meeting was scheduled with the auditor on the morning of December 2 (Monday) last year and deleted 530 documents related to the 1st Wolseong nuclear power plant for 2 hours Was investigated. Mr. B stated, “I was in a hurry because (the manager at the time) ordered that it would be better to delete the data on the weekend,” said the auditor and the prosecution. On December 2, the day after Mr. B deleted the data, the auditor visited the Ministry of Industry and took the relevant PC.
The Daejeon District Prosecutor’s Office prosecuted three officials from the Ministry of Industry on the 23rd on charges of deleting 444 documents related to the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 or aiding or tolerating them before the auditor’s investigation. Reporter Shin Jin-ho
The crime of damaging public electronic records is the act of falsifying documents prepared by public officials, and punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years. Violation of the Audit and Inspection Service Act is subject to a fine of up to 1 year in prison or up to 10 million won.
The prosecuted officials of the Ministry of Industry were working-level staff who prepared various reports for the early shutdown of the Wolseong nuclear power plant and reported them to the Blue House and former Minister of Industry, Baek Un-gyu. The prosecution, who confiscated and searched the Ministry of Industry and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) on the 5th and 6th of last month, arrested public officials of the Ministry of Industry, and then called and investigated the employees of KHNP directly involved in the operation and closure of Wolseong. The key was whether there was a so-called’superior’ command and involvement in the decision to close the nuclear power plant early.
The prosecution also intensively investigated the involvement of former Minister Paik Woon-gyu, then head of the Ministry of Industry, and Chae Hee-bong, president of Korea Gas Corporation, who was the Blue House industrial policy officer. So far, no summons investigation has been conducted on Baek and President Chae. The prosecution plans to additionally prosecute KHNP employees, apart from officials from the Ministry of Industry.
In front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on the 23rd, one day before the second interrogation date of the suspension of execution of the suspension of execution of the suspension of the prosecution’s prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, a wreath of condemnation of the Ministry of Justice and of support of President Yoon was placed in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. yunhap news
However, inside and outside the prosecution, there are concerns that the power of the investigation will decline as Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who has been directing the case, is suspended for two months. On the 24th of last month, after receiving a “job exclusion disposition” from Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, Yoon commanded a request for a warrant for arrest of public officials in the Ministry of Industry after returning after a week. The movement of Daejeon District Prosecutor’s Office Lee Doo-bong is also counted as a variable when the Ministry of Justice’s regular greeting is scheduled for next month.
Daejeon = Reporter Shin Jinho [email protected]