Indictment Reveals DAPA-LIG D&A Defense Corruption Aimed at Securing Electronic Warfare Aircraft Project [Reporting File]

Six people have been indicted in what is considered the largest defense corruption scandal in history, in which a Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) official accepted hundreds of millions of won in bribes from major defense contractor LIG D&A and handed over various defense projects to the company en masse.

The defense industry views the motive behind the crimes committed by LIG D&A as securing the 1.7 trillion won project to develop the Korean Electronic Warfare Aircraft system. Both DAPA and LIG D&A have maintained that the corruption has "nothing to do with the electronic warfare aircraft project." In particular, LIG D&A issued a press release dismissing claims linking the crimes to the electronic warfare aircraft project as "baseless," rather than prioritizing an apology for the crime.

SBS obtained the indictment detailing the arrest and prosecution of DAPA official A and LIG D&A Vice President B. According to the indictment, LIG D&A Vice President B, Executive Director C, and others repeatedly solicited DAPA official A, saying, "There are many electronic warfare-related projects coming up, so please continue to help us." The indictment also classifies five out of the six defense projects that LIG D&A secured by bribing official A as belonging to the electronic warfare sector. In other words, the purpose of the DAPA-LIG D&A defense corruption was to enable LIG D&A to win the Korean Electronic Warfare Aircraft system development project.

According to the indictment, the meetings between those involved in the defense corruption date back to October 14, 2021. At a golf course in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, LIG D&A's B and C asked DAPA official A, "Please help LIG D&A win Project A (14.59.8 billion won) supervised by the Defense Technology Promotion Institute scheduled for tomorrow."

DAPA official A and LIG D&A's C spent the time from that night until the early morning of the next day drinking and visiting massage parlors in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, where C vowed to A, "We will surely reward you if we win Project A." Having stayed up all night drinking, official A participated in the evaluation for Project A on October 15, giving LIG D&A the highest scores in 16 out of 20 categories and the lowest scores to competitors across all 20 categories.

Later that month, LIG D&A's C met DAPA official A at a restaurant in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, making a broad request by saying, "Since many electronic warfare projects are planned going forward, please keep helping us." From late 2021 to early 2022, LIG D&A's B and others made similar requests, which official A accepted every time. This is interpreted as a collusion to unlawfully monopolize key electronic warfare-related technology projects in advance to ultimately secure the Korean Electronic Warfare Aircraft system development project.

As a result of the collusion between LIG D&A executives and the grade-5 DAPA official, LIG D&A secured Project B (229.85 billion won), supervised by DAPA, in August 2022, following Project A. LIG D&A also took over Project C (48.34 billion won) and Project D (124.53 billion won) in September 2022 supervised by the Defense Technology Promotion Institute, Project E (282.78 billion won) in July 2023, and Project F (83.59 billion won) in August 2025.

Official A participated in every evaluation, giving LIG D&A the highest scores and competitors the lowest. In the case of the Project E evaluation, at the request of LIG D&A's B, DAPA official A selectively asked questions advantageous to LIG D&A. Official A also leaked various information to LIG D&A, including how to write proposals, how to receive high scores during evaluations, and the fact that official recommendation documents for evaluators were distributed.

The indictment defines 5 out of the 6 projects illicitly secured by LIG D&A—Projects A, B, C, D, and E—as related to electronic warfare aircraft. This defense corruption scandal and the Korean Electronic Warfare Aircraft system development project appear to be inextricably linked. Furthermore, 5 out of the 6 projects illicitly won by LIG D&A were supervised by the Defense Technology Promotion Institute, raising questions about the institute as well.

According to the indictment, in December 2021, LIG D&A's C granted DAPA official A the authority to recommend partner companies to participate in electronic warfare projects. In July 2022, at a golf course in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, LIG D&A's B told DAPA official A, "Since you have helped us a lot so far, we will give you 300 million won, so please also look after Project B, which is scheduled for evaluation soon." Around the same time at the same golf course, LIG D&A's B promised A, "We will include 300 million won [in bribes] in the service contract to be signed with Company Z [recommended as an electronic warfare project partner] and deliver it." In fact, Company Z transferred 300 million won out of the 2.2 billion won in service fees received from LIG D&A to official A.

In September 2022, at a restaurant in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, DAPA official A met with LIG D&A's B and C. Stepping outside the restaurant briefly, B coaxed A by saying, "If you help us win Project D from the Defense Technology Promotion Institute, we will give you an additional 20 million won." A month later at a restaurant in Daejeon, B handed 20 million won in cash to A.

In addition, official A pocketed another 140 million won from Company Z. This was in exchange for official A, who had acquired the right to recommend partner companies related to the electronic warfare project, designating Company Z as a partner. The indictment also features Company Y, operated by DAPA official A's brother-in-law, where Company Z and Company Y engaged in fake transactions to launder bribe funds. The laundered money (LIG D&A bribes + proceeds from recommendation rights) was sent to the account of official A's father-in-law via a fictitious consulting contract with Company Y, and official A withdrew and used the bribes from his father-in-law's account.

During a trial preparation hearing held at the Suwon District Court on the 25th of last month regarding official A and four individuals implicated in the money laundering, all four reportedly admitted to most of the charges in the indictment. Weight has been added to the prosecution's conclusion that "LIG D&A unlawfully secured core technology projects related to electronic warfare aircraft over several years, and thanks to this build-up, won the 1.7 trillion won Korean Electronic Warfare Aircraft system development project." There are further noteworthy points within the indictments of official A and B, which will be introduced in the next reporting file.

(Photo: Yonhap News)

※