Trial Begins for Baek Woon-gyu in 'Wolseong Nuclear Plant Manipulation' Case... Intense Legal Battle Expected

Cha Hee-bong and Jeong Jae-hoon Face Charges Including Obstruction of Business... Trial Preparation Expected to Take Several Months

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The first trial of former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu, who is accused of improperly interfering in the economic feasibility evaluation of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant, is set to begin. With the case intertwined with the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear power policy, a fierce legal battle is expected as former Blue House Industrial Policy Secretary Chae Hee-bong and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power President Jeong Jae-hoon have also been indicted.

On the 24th, the 11th Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court (Presiding Judge Park Heon-haeng) will hold a preparatory hearing for the trial at 2 p.m. This session will confirm the defendants' positions on the charges and examine key issues, and the defendants are not required to attend.

Some defense attorneys have requested changes to the preparatory hearing schedule, citing the extensive volume of materials to review, which could be a variable. However, since the request was submitted more than five days ago on the 18th, the court is unlikely to accept it.

Former Minister Baek faces charges of abuse of authority, obstruction of rights, and obstruction of business; former Secretary Chae faces charges of abuse of authority, obstruction of rights, and obstruction of business; and President Jeong is charged with breach of trust and obstruction of business under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

The prosecution believes that in November 2017, former Minister Baek conspired with former Secretary Chae and others to instruct Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to submit a letter of intent for the early shutdown of Wolseong Unit 1. They are also accused of causing Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to immediately suspend operations of Wolseong Unit 1 by a board resolution in June the following year. Former Secretary Chae is accused of having Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power submit a facility status survey form indicating early shutdown intentions, and President Jeong is accused of manipulating the evaluation results to make it appear that Wolseong Unit 1 was not economically viable, causing damage to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power under former Minister Baek’s instructions.

As this case is linked to the government's national agenda, intense disputes are expected in the upcoming trial. More than 20 lawyers are expected to participate in the trial of the three defendants, and some prosecutors who have left the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office due to personnel changes are also likely to appear to maintain the prosecution.

The defense teams of former Minister Baek and former Secretary Chae are expected to argue that they performed their duties through lawful procedures for nuclear power operation policies and did not manipulate or order manipulation of economic feasibility. President Jeong’s defense is likely to focus on the breach of trust charge, arguing that he deceived the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power board to pass a resolution to suspend the nuclear plant’s operation, causing damage to the company.

The results of the recently concluded Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee are also expected to have a significant impact on the trial. The committee decided not to indict former Minister Baek on charges including breach of trust instigation, which could be used as a defense point by President Jeong’s side. However, since the committee’s conclusions are not binding, the prosecution may still file additional charges against former Minister Baek.

Legal circles anticipate that, considering the defense’s prior requests for schedule changes due to document review, the preparatory phase alone could take several months. Previously, the trial of three Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy officials accused of deleting documents related to Wolseong Unit 1 took 10 months just for preparation due to fact-finding requests on evidence.

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