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The head of the state-run weather agency will be summoned for questioning today for allegedly offering business favors to a supplier of aviation weather observation equipment.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Sunday they will question Cho Seok-joon, administrator of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), from 10 a.m. on Monday.
When the KMA was purchasing Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) equipment, Cho allegedly ordered the Korea Meteorological Industry Promotion Agency (KMIPA), one of the KMA’s affiliates, to change the selection standard for the equipment’s observation range to a radius of 10 kilometers from 15 kilometers in June last year.
Following the eased standard range, Kweather won the bidding, supplying its equipment with a 10-kilometer radius at the end of last year.
Cho used to be the chief of a private weather information provider run by Kweather for two years before he became KMA head in February last year. He is also suspected of having leaked relevant bidding information to the contractor.
Police raided the offices of the KMIPA and Kweather to seize related documents in May. On Aug. 31, they also summoned the chief of Kweather, Kim Dong-sik, for questioning over his involvement in the influence peddling scheme.
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