An official at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) took 460 million won in bribes, executives at a major defense company were indicted, irregularities were found in six projects worth 91.5 billion won, and unfair practices plagued an electronic warfare project worth 1.7 trillion won. A massive defense procurement scandal has erupted in which executives at LIG D&A, a leading name in K-defense, provided bribes laundered through subcontractors to a Grade 5 DAPA official in exchange for sweeping up numerous weapons projects. Judging by the size of the bribes, the scale of the projects involved, and the profiles of the defendants, this is the largest defense procurement scandal in the history of Korea's defense industry.
While this was likely the result of meticulous investigation by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, a sense that something is missing is circulating not only in the defense industry but even within DAPA itself. Even the DAPA Administrator cannot fathom how a single Grade 5 official at the agency could pull off something of this magnitude. Suspicions are growing within the defense industry that those implicated from LIG D&A might ultimately just be scapegoats. The criticism is that this could be a shoddy investigation that failed to reach the actual substance and essence.
K-defense is currently seeing its foundations exposed through a string of recent overseas export failures, after walking on clouds intoxicated by national pride and bloated bubbles. This major defense procurement scandal has erupted right at a time for renewed determination. The rotten roots must be thoroughly pulled out for a fresh and clean restart.
A 'Grave Anti-State Crime' Committed Back When They Were Low-Ranking Employees?Prosecutors stated that DAPA official A, who was arrested, skewed scores in favor of LIG D&A, allowing the company to secure six projects worth 91.5 billion won. Among them, three are research projects to develop electronic warfare-related technologies. Prosecutors determined that thanks to carrying out these three electronic warfare-related projects, LIG D&A was able to secure a separate electronic warfare project worth 1.7 trillion won. Because this corruption trampled on critical national security projects with bribes, prosecutors defined the case as a grave anti-state crime.
The criminal acts began in late 2021. According to LIG D&A, Vice President B and Managing Director C, who were indicted, were not executives at that time. B, the superior, became an executive in January 2023, about a year after the crimes began. In effect, they began committing a grave anti-state crime back when they were non-executives and regular employees. Even by the end of the crimes in late 2025, B's rank was only managing director.
Within the defense industry, voices are piling up questioning how senior or managerial employees at a large corporation would risk their lives and commit a grave anti-state crime purely out of enthusiasm for work, noting that this looks like a method of cutting off the tail to protect the head, and that since the current CEO is in the early stages of a first term and unable to make major decisions, prosecutors need to look higher up. In particular, B, the higher-ranking among the indicted executives, is a research specialist far removed from taking the risks of securing business through criminal means. Could there have been intervention from higher-ups? LIG D&A stated that the CEO was not investigated.
DAPA Acknowledges Largest Scandal Yet Dismisses It as Personal DeviationDAPA acknowledges that this incident is the largest defense procurement scandal in history. At the same time, however, the agency is dismissing the case as an individual's deviation. It is simultaneously showing duplicity by tilting its head and asking how a single Grade 5 official could have pulled this off alone.
DAPA must not overlook the possibility of additional involvement by other agency employees. The individuals drawing the most attention are members of the so-called KK, composed of ROTC officers who graduated from specific high schools and universities in the Yeongnam region. Grade 5 DAPA official A, who was arrested, belongs to KK, and there are several others at DAPA besides A. Having graduated from the same high school and university and even linked through the ROTC, it is human nature for them to be close and special. KK members are also reportedly working at the Agency for Defense Development and LIG D&A.
During a meeting with reporters on the 18th, DAPA Administrator Lee Yong-chul said, "There are currently fewer than 10 KK members at DAPA, and in the past, they had a tight and thick relationship among themselves, but now their private interactions have been cut off." It was a truly awkward remark to hear. Amid a mega-scandal that has triggered suspicious and piercing gazes, if you ask KK members whether they are close among themselves, they would reply that they have drifted apart even if the sky were to fall. For the DAPA Administrator to take such self-serving claims at face value and conclude that "private interactions have been cut off"... following the individual deviation theory, a KK detachment theory has now emerged.
Administrator Lee Yong-chul also remarked, "It is logically incomprehensible that (LIG D&A) gave so much money to someone around the level of a manager." Most people in the defense industry feel the same way. There is a need to look further into whether there are additional related parties within DAPA. As mentioned earlier, the possibility of LIG D&A cutting off its tail also exists. This is why criticisms of a shoddy investigation are being raised even though the largest defense procurement scandal in history has been uncovered.
The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office needs to listen closely to these voices from the defense industry. As the prosecutors wrote in their press release, if they want to prevent defense procurement corruption from ever taking root in this land again, and if they want to help K-defense—which is wandering in the clouds swept up by national pride and bubbles—get back on its feet, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office needs to examine this case thoroughly from all angles once more.
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