French firm sues weather agency

By Lee Kyung-min

Leosphere, a French manufacturer of wind measurement devices, has filed a lawsuit with a Korean court against the Korea Meteorological Agency (KMA), claiming the agency failed to pay for its devices.

The KMA set up the firm’s wind-shear monitoring product, LIDAR (a portmanteau of light and radar), at two airports in 2013 to help ensure the safe landing and departure of aircraft.

The KMA has refused to pay for the devices, saying that they fell short of requirements.

Alongside the KMA, Leosphere also sued the Korea Meteorological Industry Promotion Agency (KMIPA) and the Public Procurement Service (PPS).

In a complaint filed with the Seoul Central District Court last month, Leosphere demanded 2.25 billion won ($2 million) in payment for the devices as well as 100 million won in damages.

In 2011, a local weather service provider Kweather and Leosphere won a bid to deploy LIDAR at Gimpo and Jeju airports. The contract was handled by the PPS and KMIPA.

The KMA, however, stopped operating the devices after deciding their quality was “below global standards,” officials said.

One of the requirements for the contract was that the devices should meet global standards in terms of per-second performance, but they did not, they said.

The first court hearing for the case is scheduled for April 8.

Regarding the deal, Kweather was not paid either.

In May last year, Kweather filed a lawsuit against the KMIPA demanding payment for its services.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Kweather, ordering the KMIPA to pay 1.13 billion won to the firm, to which the KMA filed an appeal.

The case is currently being reviewed by the Seoul High Court.