'Former Ministry of Industry Official and Others' Arrest Warrants Dismissed in Anmyeondo Solar Power Corruption Allegations'

Former officials of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) suspected of providing preferential treatment to a specific private company during the solar power project in Anmyeondo have avoided detention.

On the morning of the 3rd, Kwak Tae-hyun, the judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Northern District Court, held a pre-arrest detention hearing for three individuals: former MOTIE officials A and B, who are accused of abuse of authority and bribery, and C, a representative of a private company involved in the solar power project. The judge dismissed all arrest warrants. Judge Kwak stated, "It is difficult to recognize the risk of flight or the necessity and grounds for detention for all three individuals," explaining the reason for dismissal.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A and B are suspected of providing favorable legal interpretations to the private company to which C belongs during the Anmyeondo solar power project from December 2018 to January 2019, during the Moon Jae-in administration. It was investigated that after receiving preferential treatment, C re-employed A and B at the private company.

In June of last year, the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) requested a prosecution investigation, stating that there were allegations of corruption during the Anmyeondo solar power project following an audit of the renewable energy project implementation.

According to the BAI, in December 2018, A received a request related to land use change from C, whom he met through B, a colleague, regarding the construction of a 300 MW (megawatt) solar power plant in Anmyeondo, the largest private-led project in Korea.

In January 2019, A sent a legal interpretation through a subordinate official stating that the project site qualified as an "important industrial facility eligible for land use conversion," which led Taean County to change the land designation from pasture land to mixed-use land.

The BAI concluded that this allowed the company to continue the Anmyeondo solar power plant project and gain economic benefits such as a 10 billion KRW increase in the official land price and avoidance of 4.5 billion KRW in delayed interest payments.

It was also investigated that B was re-employed as the company’s CEO after retirement, and A as an executive director of a partner company.

The prosecution conducted raids in July at the MOTIE office in the Government Complex Sejong and at Taean County Office.

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