LIG D&A, which faces the disgrace of its vice president (B) being indicted and detained and its managing director (C) indicted without detention on defense corruption charges—including offering hundreds of millions of won in bribes to a Grade 5 DAPA (Defense Acquisition Program Administration) official (A) to secure six national defense projects—released a statement on the 21st. What seemed like an apology turned out to be a defense argument claiming that "the electronic-warfare aircraft project is unrelated to this case." This directly contradicted the prosecution's investigative findings that "the projects secured by LIG D&A executives through bribery served as the foundation for winning the 1.7 trillion won electronic-warfare aircraft project."

On the 18th, DAPA Administrator Lee Yong-chul also called a press conference and repeatedly emphasized that "there is no causal relationship between the bribes received by DAPA official A and LIG D&A's winning of the electronic-warfare aircraft project." It sounded like the verbal version of LIG D&A's press statement, which clashed directly with the prosecution's findings. DAPA and the major defense contractor are speaking in unison to push back against the prosecution's defense corruption probe, which resulted in two officials being indicted and detained and four others indicted without detention.


Merely considering the amount of bribes received by the DAPA official and the indictment of two executives from the major defense contractor LIG D&A, this case is the largest defense corruption scandal in history. DAPA can be called the defendant organization, and LIG D&A the defendant company. While the right to defense must be guaranteed, it appears inappropriate for the defendant organization and defendant company to share matching remarks, as if they coordinated their stances before and after the prosecution's announcement of investigative findings, akin to minds beating as one. DAPA is in a position where it will soon have to impose administrative sanctions for LIG D&A's defense corruption. Can they really apply a strict yardstick to their fellow defendants in shared misery?


The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office stated, "From late 2021 to late 2025, DAPA official A received 460 million won in bribes from LIG D&A in exchange for channeling six national defense projects to LIG D&A." Prosecutors are focusing on three of the six projects improperly secured by LIG D&A: the intelligent signal detection technology project, the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar countermeasures jamming technology project, and the real-time broadband multi-threat signal environment simulation technology project.

Signal detection, radar jamming, and real-time broadband multi-threat signal environment simulation are all considered essential technologies for developing electronic-warfare aircraft. Naturally, the company that executed these three technology projects can be seen as having secured an advantageous footing in the electronic-warfare system development project. When proposal evaluations for the electronic-warfare aircraft project were in full swing last September, high-ranking LIG D&A officials even expressed confidence, stating that "competitors cannot catch up with LIG D&A in core electronic-warfare technologies."


Consequently, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office defined the three projects illicitly secured by LIG D&A as "core or related technologies for the approximately 1.7 trillion won electronic-warfare system development project" and "the foundation for winning the large-scale 1.7 trillion won project." They also noted, "LIG D&A formulated a plan to secure related technology projects step-by-step starting in September 2021 to win the electronic-warfare system development project." Because electronic-warfare aircraft are being developed as an Air Force strategic asset to neutralize enemy communication and air defense networks, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office pinned down this case as a "grave anti-state crime that shakes national security and core industries."


LIG D&A's statement on the 21st was reminiscent of a denunciation of the prosecution. First, it stated on behalf of DAPA that "the relevant official did not participate as an evaluation committee member in the electronic-warfare aircraft project evaluation." It then undermined the prosecution's findings, calling it an "unfounded claim that the prime contractor for the electronic-warfare system development project was selected based on three projects with no direct relevance."

Going a step further, LIG D&A glorified the projects won through bribery in its statement, calling them "projects in which the relevant official participated as an evaluation committee member." It is a baffling level of confidence. Reactions from the defense industry include: "There is widespread talk of a shoddy investigation because there was no probe into the direct superior of the detained LIG D&A executive B at the time of the crime, yet LIG D&A shows zero reflection," and "The detached rhetoric of LIG D&A denying the prosecution's investigative results is astonishing."

DAPA Administrator Lee Yong-chul held a press conference on the 18th, two days before the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office announced its investigation results and three days before LIG D&A released its statement. Administrator Lee stated during the briefing, "Based on our investigation, our employee did not join as an evaluation committee member for the electronic-warfare aircraft project," and "It is unlikely that there is a causal relationship between (LIG D&A's) bribes and the electronic-warfare aircraft project." This aligns with the context of LIG D&A's statement.

To reiterate, DAPA and LIG D&A are the agency and company to which the individuals who caused the largest defense corruption scandal in history belong. It is also hard to overlook the fact that the head of a government ministry involved in one axis of the defense corruption scandal called a press conference right before the announcement of the prosecution's investigation results to make such remarks.


With the prosecution's investigation results announcement in the middle, the posture of the defendant organization and defendant company attacking one after another is quite unusual. It is a formation where the defendants sandwich the prosecution from both front and back. One cannot help but suspect whether DAPA and LIG D&A are seeking a way out by piggybacking on the political power's demonization of the prosecution to attack the prosecution themselves.

The fact that DAPA is the supervisory agency and LIG D&A is the supervised company is also a crucial point in this case. Following the indictment of LIG D&A executives for defense corruption, DAPA is required to sanction LIG D&A for violations of the Defense Acquisition Program Act and the National Contract Act. Judging by the sight of them pulling and pushing for each other, strict sanctions seem to be out of the window. It is a sign of the recurrence of the old normal in K-defense corruption, where petty thieves are caught and major thieves are let go.