Prosecutors Conduct Search and Seizure at Hyundai Heavy Industries on Charges of Evidence Tampering

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The prosecution has launched an investigation into Hyundai Heavy Industries on charges of evidence concealment or destruction during the Fair Trade Commission's investigation of unfair trade practices.

According to the legal community on the 17th, the Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Ko Jinwon) recently conducted a search and seizure at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan and secured internal documents for analysis.

In June last year, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the Minbyun Civil Economy Committee, and the Countermeasures Committee for Subcontractor Victims of the Three Shipbuilding Companies filed a complaint with the prosecution against Hyundai Heavy Industries for evidence destruction.

Earlier, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine of 20.8 billion KRW at the end of 2019 and reported to the prosecution, stating that from 2014 to 2018, Hyundai Heavy Industries entrusted about 48,000 ship and offshore plant manufacturing tasks to approximately 200 in-house subcontractors, issuing contracts after work had started and reducing subcontract payments.

Additionally, the Fair Trade Commission revealed that Hyundai Heavy Industries employees replaced 273 hard disks and 101 computers containing important data just before the on-site investigation in October 2018, obstructing the investigation. However, the company was only fined 10 million KRW and the employees involved were fined 2.5 million KRW.

In response, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and others filed a complaint with the prosecution, arguing that although Hyundai Heavy Industries systematically concealed and destroyed related materials during the 2018 investigation into unfair subcontracting practices in the shipbuilding industry, only fines were imposed. They claimed, "The CEO and executives of Hyundai Heavy Industries transferred important files related to unfair trade stored on employee desktops to external hard drives, replaced 273 hard disks with solid-state drives (SSD), and then hid or destroyed them." They further stated, "While the Fair Trade Commission imposed fines on Hyundai Heavy Industries and related employees who obstructed the investigation, it did not file charges for the obstruction itself," explaining the background of the complaint.

Meanwhile, the prosecution plans to determine the level of criminal punishment for those involved after reviewing the complaints from the Fair Trade Commission and civic groups.

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