‘Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Document Deletion’ Former Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Officials Acquitted (Comprehensive)

Former Ministry of Industry officials who were prosecuted for deleting Blue House report documents related to suspicions of the early shutdown of the ‘Wolseong Unit 1’ nuclear power plant ahead of the Board of Audit and Inspection audit were acquitted.

The Supreme Court’s 1st Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) on the 9th upheld the lower court’s acquittal verdict for Moon, former Director of Nuclear Industry Policy at the Ministry of Industry, Jeong, former Head of the Nuclear Industry Policy Division, and Kim, a former secretary, who were prosecuted on charges of damaging official electronic records, trespassing, and violating the Board of Audit and Inspection Act.

Moon and Jeong were indicted on charges of ordering or tacitly allowing the deletion of Wolseong nuclear power plant-related data around November 2019, just before the request for employee data submission. Kim was prosecuted for deleting 530 Wolseong nuclear power plant-related documents reported to the Presidential Secretariat’s Industrial Policy Secretary’s Office from the Ministry of Industry office at the Government Sejong Complex from the night of December 1, 2019, to the early morning of the following day.

The first trial court sentenced Moon to one year in prison with a two-year probation, and Jeong and Kim to eight months in prison with a two-year probation. However, the appellate court acquitted Moon and others, stating, "It cannot be reasonably proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the deletion of the data posed a risk of obstructing the audit."

The Supreme Court also ruled, "There is no error in the lower court’s acquittal judgment that violates the rules of logic and experience, exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misinterprets the legal principles regarding the establishment of the crimes of damaging official electronic records, trespassing, and violating the Board of Audit and Inspection Act, which would affect the judgment."

The Board of Audit and Inspection stated its official position on the Supreme Court’s acquittal ruling, saying, "Considering the Board of Audit and Inspection Act, related internal regulations, and audit practices, it is difficult to accept the content of the ruling," but also said, "We respect the Supreme Court’s judgment."

Earlier, ahead of the ruling, the Board of Audit and Inspection submitted a brief to the Supreme Court requesting the annulment of the appellate court’s acquittal verdict for these officials.