Pretrial Detention Hearing on the 29th
Suspicion of Receiving Money for Facilitating Defense Acquisition Agency Deals
The police have re-applied for an arrest warrant for former Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) chief Wang Jeong-hong, who is suspected of bid-rigging related to the Korean-style next-generation destroyer (KDDX) project.
On the 28th, the National Police Agency's Criminal Investigation Headquarters announced that they had applied for an arrest warrant for former chief Wang on the 25th on charges including violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act. The pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing) is scheduled to be held on the 29th at the Anyang branch of the Suwon District Court.
The police reportedly detected circumstances in which former chief Wang, after retiring from his position as DAPA chief in 2020 and while working at a tax firm, received monetary benefits including stock transactions from a specific company in exchange for mediation with DAPA.
Additionally, the police are investigating allegations that former chief Wang changed regulations to help HD Hyundai Heavy Industries be selected as the basic design contractor for the KDDX project, which involves the deployment of six new 6,000-ton class destroyers.
In this regard, the police had applied for an arrest warrant for former chief Wang in September, but it was rejected at the prosecution stage.
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