Contracted with 320 Billion Won Budget... Helicopters Cannot Fly Even in Wildfires

[Anchor]

Starting with a comprehensive analysis of this year's budget bill, we are running a series of reports examining whether the public's hard-earned tax money is being properly used. Today, on September 16, we take a look at the Korea Forest Service's project to introduce ultra-large firefighting helicopters. Spanning seven years with a total of seven helicopters to be introduced, a budget of over 320 billion won has been poured into the project. The very first ultra-large helicopter was brought in early this year, but it remains unclear whether it could be deployed to the field even if a major wildfire broke out tomorrow.

What exactly is the problem? Reporter Bae Yeo-un first investigated the matter.

[Reporter]

This helicopter, bearing the clear logo of the Korea Forest Service, was promoted by the agency back in January during an introduction ceremony as a huge asset for fighting wildfires.

However, do you see the helicopter's unique registration number starting with the letter "N" on its tail?

This indicates that it is a U.S. helicopter.

Although it arrived as the first helicopter four years after the project started and sits in the Korea Forest Service hangar, it is not a Korea Forest Service helicopter.

Our pilots cannot fly it, nor can our mechanics touch it.

A Korea Forest Service official in charge of the contract even wrote this on their personal social media:

"I made the contract, but it's a Korea Forest Service helicopter that isn't really a Korea Forest Service helicopter."

Why did this situation happen?

The Korea Forest Service first contracted the helicopter with a U.S. company in December 2022, under the agreement that both the aircraft and major parts would be 100 percent brand-new and delivered by the end of December 2025.

However, in March of last year, the company requested a contract modification.

This came two years and three months after the contract, with only nine months left until delivery.

The company admitted fault, stating things like "it is difficult to produce the originally contracted model" and "the initial proposal was unrealistic."

Instead, they proposed changing the model to a disassembled 1980s U.S. military helicopter that has been converted for firefighting purposes.

The Korea Forest Service, after pondering, abruptly accepted the company's request two months before the delivery deadline.

[Kim Man-ju / Head of the Korea Forest Aviation Headquarters: There are no other alternatives with a capacity of 8,000 liters or more, to the extent that you could say the Chinook (the contracted model) is the only large aircraft available.]

The price was lowered by about 10% to approximately 36.3 billion won, and the delivery deadline was extended by a year and a half to June of next year.

This caused disruptions to helicopter deployment plans for the wildfire sites this spring.

The Korea Forest Service hurriedly arranged to temporarily receive helicopters from the company.

This is that exact helicopter sitting in the Korea Forest Service hangar that we cannot operate.

The company provided the helicopter free of charge for this spring and next spring, along with sending pilot and maintenance personnel.

However, once the wildfire season ended this spring, all U.S. personnel returned to their home country.

In the event of an immediate large-scale wildfire, Korea Forest Service personnel alone cannot get this helicopter off the ground.

There is another problem.

Under the contract, the company that failed to meet the delivery deadline should pay delayed compensation fees, but it has been confirmed that they were not paid.

[Kang Doo-won / Lawyer: Extending the delivery deadline by one year and six months ultimately has the same effect as completely exempting them from delayed compensation fees, so it certainly seems a bit excessive.]

The Korea Forest Service explained that the contract was modified before the delayed compensation fees accrued, and that they did not grant exemptions or special privileges.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video Reported by Seol Min-hwan | Video Edited by Lee Hong-myung | Design by Park Tae-young, Lee Jun-ho | PDs: Kim Do-gyun, Han Seung-ho | XR: Choi Jae-young, Park Chun-ung | VJ: Kim Jun-hwan | Data provided by the office of Representative Yoon Jun-byeong | Video provided by Columbia Helicopters YouTube, YouTube & SNS sources: Jarasum Younggu, Jirisan Sancheongsari, Bicha-wa-Naltteul, Film Master)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.