First Trial of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Data Deletion Case... Defendant's Side Says "Most Are Temporary Data"

Daejeon District Court Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Three Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy officials indicted for involvement in the mass deletion of data related to the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant denied the charges at their first trial.

At 2 p.m. on the 9th, the Criminal Division 11 of Daejeon District Court (Presiding Judge Park Heonhaeng) conducted a pretrial procedure for the case involving three officials, including a bureau-level official A (53), charged with damage to public electronic records, violation of the Board of Audit and Inspection Act, and trespassing.

A’s lawyer stated, "Although he told subordinates that it would be better to organize unnecessary data ahead of the Board of Audit and Inspection’s audit, it must be examined whether the deleted data were actually related to the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant," adding, "Most of the deleted data claimed by the prosecution are intermediate or temporary files, not the final versions."

He continued, "Public officials frequently save files intermittently before creating the final version," and argued, "If deleting files prior to the final version is punishable, then all public officials in South Korea would be guilty of damaging electronic records."

The defense also pointed out that since the files were created for printing written reports, it should be determined whether they qualify as electronic records.

Additionally, two of the defendants, including A, who are currently detained, requested the court to grant bail to ensure their right to defense. They claimed that since their arrest in December last year, they have hardly been investigated and that only investigations related to former Minister of Industry Baek Woon-kyu’s abuse of power, obstruction of rights, and interference with duties are ongoing.

In response, the prosecution argued, "Since there has been no change in circumstances after the detention, bail should be denied."

Previously, two of the defendants, including A, were indicted on charges of ordering or condoning the deletion of data related to the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant around November 2019, just before the Board of Audit and Inspection’s data submission request.

Their subordinate B was also indicted for deleting 530 items of data related to the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant for about two hours starting around 11 p.m. on Sunday, December 1, 2019, at the Ministry of Industry office in the Government Sejong Complex, the day before a meeting with the Board of Audit and Inspection auditors.

The court scheduled a bail hearing for the detained defendants on the 30th and decided to hold another pretrial procedure on the 20th of next month.