Former Minister of Industry Baek Woon-gyu's Warrant Hearing Ends After 6 Hours... Decision on Detention Expected Early Tomorrow

Baek Woon-gyu, former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, who is accused of involvement in manipulating the economic feasibility evaluation of the Wolseong Unit 1 nuclear power plant, is appearing at the Daejeon District Court on the afternoon of the 8th for a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant review).

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The pre-trial detention hearing (warrant review) for former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu (56), who is accused of involvement in the manipulation of the economic feasibility evaluation of Wolseong Unit 1 nuclear power plant, ended about six hours after it began.

The warrant review for former Minister Baek, conducted by Judge Oh Se-yong of the Daejeon District Court's warrant division, started around 2:40 p.m. and concluded around 8:50 p.m.

Due to intense disputes between the prosecution and Baek’s defense, the decision on whether Baek will be detained is expected to be announced in the early hours of the 9th.

Upon arriving for the hearing, Baek asserted his innocence to reporters, stating, "The early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1 was a national policy prioritizing public safety, handled through lawful procedures based on laws and principles." It is reported that he denied most of the charges during the hearing as well.

He also claimed no involvement with the actions of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy officials who were previously indicted for deleting documents related to the closure of Wolseong Unit 1 ahead of the Board of Audit and Inspection’s audit.

Baek is accused of abusing his authority, damaging public electronic records, and violating the Board of Audit and Inspection Act by manipulating Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power’s (KHNP) economic feasibility evaluation of Wolseong Unit 1 and deleting related documents to obstruct the audit before the plant’s closure.

According to the Board of Audit and Inspection’s report, in April 2018, when an industry ministry official in charge of nuclear policy proposed temporarily maintaining the operation of Wolseong Unit 1, Baek reprimanded them, saying, "Immediately review to stop operation," and subsequently, a policy was set to "immediately stop operation simultaneously with KHNP’s board decision on early nuclear plant closure."

The prosecution has been investigating on the premise that the economic feasibility evaluation manipulation occurred following this policy decision.

Additionally, the prosecution suspects Baek’s involvement in the process of including the early closure of Wolseong Unit 1 in the performance agreement for the newly appointed KHNP president.

Baek is also accused of participating in the deletion of 530 nuclear-related documents by three Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy officials who were previously indicted.

Earlier, the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office Criminal Division 5 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Sang-hyun) requested a pre-trial detention warrant for Baek on the 4th, charging him with abuse of authority and obstruction of KHNP’s legitimate business by improperly interfering with KHNP’s economic feasibility evaluation before the closure of Wolseong Unit 1.

Initially, the prosecution planned to execute the arrest warrant at the prosecution office and escort Baek to the court via an underground passage with investigators, but Baek appeared at the court directly with his lawyer.

Previously, in December last year, the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office arrested and indicted two Ministry officials for deleting documents related to the closure of Wolseong Unit 1 (charges including damage to public electronic records, violation of the Board of Audit and Inspection Act, and office intrusion), while one other was indicted without detention, totaling three defendants brought to trial.

If the detention warrant for Baek is issued, the prosecution is expected to gain momentum in investigating higher-ups such as former Blue House Industrial Policy Secretary Chae Hee-bong (current president of Korea Gas Corporation).

Conversely, if the warrant is dismissed, the ruling party, which has criticized the prosecution for an "excessive investigation into government policy," is likely to intensify its attacks, potentially disrupting the prosecution’s investigation.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Citizens’ Action for Saving Nuclear Power (Citizens’ Action) filed a complaint with the prosecution accusing three former Blue House officials?former Senior Secretary for Social Affairs Kim Soo-hyun, former Science and Technology Advisor Moon Mi-ok, and former Climate and Environment Secretary Kim Hye-ae?of abuse of authority related to the early nuclear plant closure decision.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.