Ex-KAI chief's link to Park Geun-hye uncovered
By Choi Ha-young
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Ha Sung-yong
Suspicions are growing that former Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) CEO Ha Sung-yong, the central figure in a widening corruption investigation, may have had a close relationship with ousted former President Park Geun-hye and her loyalists.
In June 2015, Ha appointed an aide of an unnamed pro-Park lawmaker as an executive in charge of the KAI’s aircraft maintenance project, the Hankook Ilbo reported Sunday.
The aide reportedly was tasked with lobbying pro-Park lawmakers for the KAI.
On Thursday, Ha resigned as the KAI chief following allegations that he created a slush fund by inflating costs for aircraft manufacturing and bribed pro-Park politicians with the money. The prosecution suspects that since 2012, when Park was running in the presidential race, Ha provided illegal funds to this faction.
He donated 10 million won ($ 8,900) to Park in 2012; 4 million won to a conservative lawmaker in 2014; and 5 million won to another conservative lawmaker in 2016. The two lawmakers are categorized as core pro-Park politicians. The former one was a member of the National Assembly National Defense Committee in charge of supervising KAI.
In 2013, Ha was appointed by Park, the disgraced president who was ousted over the massive corruption scandal. President Park visited the KAI headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province in December 2015 to encourage staff, followed by Ha’s reappointment in 2016.
The prosecution is chasing the source of this political support funding taking into account that Ha may have collected the money illicitly, by inflating aircraft development costs and receiving “rebates” from subcontractors.
According to the Political Fund Law, money relevant to certain organizations is not allowed to be used to fund politicians. Furthermore, the prosecutors are looking into the suspicious flow of 5.2 billion won worth of certificates purchased by the KAI, which were possibly used to bribe high-ranking military officers.
Since taking office in May, President Moon Jae-in has repeatedly vowed to eradicate rampant corruption in the arms industry. On July 16, the state auditor announced that the military bought Surion utility helicopters from the KAI and put them into operation despite crucial defects in them. Around 1.3 trillion won was invested in the project.
Rep. Kim Jong-dae from the Justice Party recently alleged that Park’s senior secretary Woo Byung-woo interfered with the state auditor’s inspection. “Park once gave exceptional compliments about the Surion project, and this might have been out of a political calculation,” Kim said in a radio interview last Tuesday.
In addition, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the nation’s arms procurement agency, is suspected of having attempted to cover up the Surion defects in pushing for its deployment.
Following the allegations, DAPA chief Chang Myoung-jin, who allegedly directed the deployment, resigned. Chang, who was a schoolmate of former President Park at Sogang University, was appointed to the post by her.