'Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Economic Feasibility Manipulation' Baek Woon-gyu and Others to Stand Trial from the 24th of Next Month

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu (57) and former Blue House Industrial Policy Secretary Chae Hee-bong (55), who were indicted for leading the process of manipulating the economic feasibility of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1, will stand trial starting next month.

According to the legal community on the 15th, the 11th Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court (Presiding Judge Park Heon-haeng) decided to hold a pretrial conference at 2 p.m. on the 24th of next month for the three defendants: former Minister Baek, former Secretary Chae, and Jung Jae-hoon, President of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, who are charged with abuse of authority, obstruction of business, and breach of trust.

The pretrial conference is a procedure where the prosecution, defendants, and the court meet in the courtroom before the main trial to organize their positions on the charges, key issues, and discuss the operation of the upcoming trial. Both sides must also agree on evidence and witnesses.

Former Minister Baek is accused of conspiring with former Secretary Chae to have Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power submit a "Facility Status Survey" in November 2017, which included an intention for early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1, originally guaranteed to operate until November 2022 based on its design life. According to the prosecution, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power initially opposed the early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1, citing expected large-scale losses and lack of legal grounds.

They are also charged with deciding to shut down Wolseong Unit 1 early and immediately halt its operation through a board resolution on June 15 of the following year.

Jung, the president who was indicted together, is accused of manipulating the economic feasibility evaluation results of Wolseong Unit 1 under the direction of former Minister Baek, deceiving the board with the manipulated evaluation results to obtain a resolution for immediate suspension of operation, causing Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power a loss of approximately 148.1 billion won.

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