'Wolseong Nuclear Plant Economic Feasibility Manipulation' Baek Woon-gyu, Chae Hee-bong, etc., Assigned to Same Court as Data Deletion Case

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu and others involved in the alleged improper intervention in the economic feasibility evaluation of Wolseong Unit 1 nuclear power plant will stand trial together with Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy officials who were indicted for deleting related data.

According to the legal community on the 1st, the Daejeon District Court assigned the case of former Blue House Industry Policy Secretary Chae Hee-bong, former Minister Baek Woon-gyu, and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) President Jung Jae-hoon, who were indicted on charges including obstruction of business, to Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Park Heon-haeng). The presiding judge is Kim Joo-yeon (35, 2nd Bar Exam).

This court is currently hearing the case of Ministry officials indicted for obstructing the Board of Audit and Inspection’s audit by deleting data related to the Wolseong nuclear power plant.

Former Secretary Chae Hee-bong is accused of causing KHNP, which opposed the early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1, to prematurely shut down and immediately halt operations of the plant.

The prosecution believes that former Secretary Chae submitted a facility status survey form indicating an intention for early shutdown based on the argument that "a large-scale loss is expected and there is no legal basis" for operating Wolseong Unit 1, which was guaranteed to operate until its design life expires in November next year.

Former Minister Baek is accused of conspiring with former Secretary Chae to obtain KHNP’s intention to shut down Wolseong Unit 1. President Jung was charged not only with obstruction of business but also with violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust).

The prosecution stated, "(President Jung) deceived the KHNP board of directors on June 15, 2018, with fabricated evaluation results to obtain a resolution for immediate suspension of operations and then executed it," adding, "In this process, KHNP suffered damages amounting to approximately 148.1 billion won."

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