National Assembly's Agriculture Committee Piles Criticism on 'Core Wildfire-Fighting' Extra-Large Helicopter Project

During today's parliamentary audit of the Korea Forest Service by the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties raised concerns and sharply criticized the issues surrounding the "extra-large firefighting helicopter acquisition project," which SBS has reported on in a series since last month.

Lawmaker Yoon Jun-byeong of the Democratic Party of Korea pointed out problems such as changes in contract conditions and the extension of certification and delivery schedules during the procurement process for the first extra-large firefighting helicopter.

He stated that although the contract initially stipulated that both the aircraft and major components would be delivered brand new, the supply conditions were altered at the request of the U.S. manufacturer: the aircraft was changed to a remanufactured unit, the engines and rotor heads to overhauled parts, and the blades and landing gear to repaired and restored parts.

Yoon also criticized that despite the delivery deadline being extended by about 18 months from December 28 of last year to June 29 of next year through a contract revision in October of last year, the helicopter has yet to receive "certification," a mandatory requirement for safety, and uncertainties remain unresolved.

"If completion of certification is not guaranteed, there is a high likelihood that the extended delivery deadline will not be met," Yoon said, adding, "A thorough verification of the remaining certification procedures and the actual possibility of completion is necessary."

Lawmaker Joo Chul-hyun, of the same party, pointed out, "We contracted for a new model to be delivered, but when the U.S. manufacturer suddenly said it couldn't be done, changing our stance now amounts to a decisive breach of contract. With the introduction lagging, if large wildfires break out from this fall through next year, some helicopters will be unable to operate. If the current situation persists, South Korea's firefighting capabilities will rapidly decline."

In response, Korea Forest Service Chief Park Eun-sik explained, "At the time, we contemplated canceling and modifying the contract, but taking into consideration various circumstances such as securing helicopters, we inevitably chose to alter the contract. The reason for the delayed delivery is that we must receive airworthiness certification from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which we have not yet obtained."

Lawmaker Kim Sun-kyo of the People Power Party criticized, "Helicopter defects, which stood at two cases in 2024, increased to 10 cases last year and reached 15 cases as of September this year. In February of this year, a KA-32 helicopter assigned to Hamyang had to return due to an aircraft defect while moving to fight a wildfire, and a helicopter assigned to Yeongam even had its mission canceled due to a water tank defect."

He further questioned, "There are seven grounded (KA-32) helicopters. Are you just leaving seven of them idle using the Russia-Ukraine war as an excuse?"

Chief Park replied, "Part supply has not been smooth due to the war, but we are making maximum use of available parts. Since there are no domestically produced extra-large helicopters, we are inevitably looking into ways to introduce foreign ones, and we have a plan to gradually replace or further reinforce them with domestically developed Surion helicopters."

Lawmaker Lee Yang-soo of the People Power Party pointed out, "The number of malfunctions in Korea Forest Service firefighting helicopters surged sixfold in a single year. As of August, 45 malfunctions occurred, and there were 14 instances where helicopters failed to dispatch due to breakdowns or maintenance despite the occurrence of wildfires."

Lee emphasized, "Firefighting helicopters are core forces to prevent the spread of large wildfires, but breakdowns are surging and instances of failing to dispatch to actual wildfire sites are increasing. The government should accelerate the replacement schedule for aging helicopters and diversify the parts supply network to prevent any vacuum in wildfire response."

Previously, SBS reported in a series starting last month that the Forest Service's extra-large firefighting helicopter acquisition project, scaled at 320 billion won in national budget funds, is being shaken by poor contract management and a lack of verification.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.