Daewoo Shipbuilding Calls for Audit on HD Hyundai Heavy's Next Destroyer Selection Process

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering urged the Board of Audit and Inspection to audit the selection process of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries for the Korean next-generation destroyer (KDDX) project.

On the 19th, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering announced that it would submit a national audit request to the Board of Audit and Inspection, calling for an audit to determine whether there were any legal or illegal issues in the selection process and project progress of the Korean next-generation destroyer (KDDX) project.

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Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering stated, "In the selection process for the KDDX basic design contractor in 2020, it was revealed through the trial results of the case that Hyundai Heavy Industries secretly photographed and leaked Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering's KDDX conceptual design materials and systematically concealed and managed them on Hyundai's internal company server," adding, "At that time, Hyundai Heavy Industries was selected as the preferred negotiation partner, seriously undermining the fairness of the contractor selection process."

Hyundai Heavy Industries did not receive any penalty points for this security breach at the time of selection. The score difference between Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries was only 0.0565 points. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering explained that if penalty points had been imposed for the security breach, the outcome would have been completely different.

Furthermore, "Even at this point, when Hyundai Heavy Industries' illegal actions were confirmed by a court ruling in November last year, there has been no review of the legality or illegality of the project progress with the company, no investigation into the facts, or follow-up measures," emphasizing, "An investigation by the Board of Audit and Inspection is inevitable to enhance the status and transparency of the Republic of Korea's national defense projects."

A Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering official said, "For key projects aimed at strengthening naval power, bidding must be conducted more fairly and strictly," and added, "We request a prompt and thorough audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection."

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