Data Deletion at Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 Today
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Official's Detention Hearing
If Detained, Investigation into Higher-Ups Expected to Expand
[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Public officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy involved in deleting internal documents related to Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 will face detention hearings on the 4th. This is a warrant request approved immediately after Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol returned to duty, despite criticism from the ruling party calling it a "political witch hunt." It also marks the first turning point in the prosecution's investigation, which is expected to extend to higher-ups including the Blue House.
The detention hearing will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the Daejeon District Court. Judge Oh Se-yong, who is in charge of warrants at this court, will decide whether to detain public official A and others from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The charges include damage to official electronic records, violation of the Board of Audit and Inspection Act, and trespassing. The prosecution believes that they deleted 444 documents related to Wolseong Unit 1 in November last year, just before the Board of Audit and Inspection requested the submission of materials, and that they condoned and aided this act, applying these charges accordingly.
A and others are reportedly denying the charges, stating that they only performed their duties following proper procedures. The Criminal Division 5 of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, led by Chief Prosecutor Lee Sang-hyun, which is investigating the allegations of manipulation of the economic feasibility evaluation of Wolseong Unit 1, decided to request pre-detention warrants for A and others after finding discrepancies in testimonies among suspects during the document deletion process.
The investigation team recovered 324 of the deleted documents through digital forensics but was unable to verify 120 documents. Given that A and others have a history of evidence destruction, the investigation team is confident that the warrants will be issued. Concern over evidence destruction is one of the court's criteria for issuing warrants. During the detention hearing, the court will listen to opinions from both the prosecution and the suspects and determine whether the detention conditions are met before deciding on the issuance of the warrants. The results are expected late in the afternoon or the following morning.
Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1
If the warrants are issued, the investigation will turn toward higher-ups who may have ordered the document deletion. The key issue is whether former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Professor Baek Woon-gyu, former Blue House Industrial Policy Secretary Chae Hee-bong, now President of Korea Gas Corporation, and former Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office Park Won-joo were involved. The investigation team is currently summoning public officials from the Ministry as witnesses and narrowing the investigation net around former Minister Baek and others. It is widely expected that summons for questioning will be conducted soon.
The investigation team also plans to ascertain the Blue House's involvement in the economic feasibility evaluation process of Wolseong Unit 1. There are suspicions that utilization rates and sales prices were deliberately lowered to reduce economic feasibility, with the early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1 in mind. The investigation team suspects that the Blue House was briefed on documents detailing these circumstances. These documents are known to be among the 444 deleted materials by Ministry public official A and two others.
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