First Trial of '6 Trillion Won Rebar Collusion' Case: "Considering Detained Defendants, Proceeding Swiftly"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] At the first trial of the '6 trillion won steel rebar cartel' case, the court stated that it would consider holding trial dates once every one to two weeks, taking into account the detention period of the defendants.

On the morning of the 9th, the Criminal Division 24 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Jo Yongrae) held the first pretrial conference for three executives including Choi, former executive director of Dongkuk Steel, Kim, former head of a business division at Hyundai Steel, and Song, deputy manager of the sales team at Hwanyeong Steel Industry, who were indicted in detention on charges of violating the Fair Trade Act, along with 19 co-conspirators indicted without detention, and seven steel companies including Hyundai Steel, Dongkuk Steel, Daehan Steel, Korea Steel, YK Steel, Hwanyeong Steel Industry, and Korea Steel Corporation.

The pretrial conference is a procedure to hear opinions from both the prosecution and defense and to establish plans for evidence admission and other proof-related matters; defendants are not required to attend.

On this day, the court said, "Most of the defendants and their lawyers are not fully prepared for trial," adding, "There are many issues and a large volume of evidence records, so it is expected to take time to grasp them. Scheduling the trial date less than a month after indictment was necessary to proceed somewhat swiftly, especially because of the three detained defendants." The court also said, "Since this case has been ongoing for 6 to 7 years, it will take time to review."

The prosecutor stated, "Most of the defendants are expected to confess. We ask the court to consider holding trial dates at least one day per week through concentrated hearings so that the trial can be completed within the detention period (6 months) of the detained defendants."

The court requested mutual cooperation from both the prosecution and defense teams for a swift trial. It also said, "The defense team should organize their opinions on the charges and evidence, and the prosecution should roughly establish their proof plan," and "We will decide whether to hold trials weekly or once every two weeks after reviewing the availability of the main courtroom," scheduling the second pretrial conference for the 6th of next month.

Previously, Choi and others were brought to trial on charges of colluding to restrict competition by dividing bid quantities and prices among companies in annual steel rebar contract bids issued by the Public Procurement Service from 2012 to 2018. They were investigated to have submitted inflated false data on prices of rebar for private use to the Public Procurement Service to induce a higher base bid price, then pre-agreed and shared quantities and prices by company to gain unfair profits. The companies won public procurement rebar bids without a single loss for seven years and reportedly earned higher profit margins than in the private market.

According to the prosecution, the cartel scale amounts to approximately 6.8442 trillion won, the largest in public procurement bidding history. The national treasury loss caused by the crime reaches 673.2 billion won. After receiving a complaint from the Fair Trade Commission in August last year, the prosecution conducted a large-scale investigation including raids on related parties.

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