By Kim Tae-gyu
The Defense Security Command (DSC) raided First Standard Korea, a broker that helped Boeing win Korea’s fighter procurement for allegedly leaking military secrets.
A source familiar with the issue said Wednesday that the DSC searched the company office twice last week to see if the company had dealt with military secrets in an inappropriate manner.
The source said that the DSC is investigating the firm but refused to offer details.
First Standard Korea played the role of broker in Boeing being selected to provide 60 F-15 fighters.
It was not involved in Boeing’s latest victory to provide Korea with 36 AH-64E Apache Guardian helicopters worth 1.8 trillion won between 2016 and 2018.
It also has no contract with Boeing on Korea’s new fighter purchase plan under which the country is poised to purchase a total of 60 state-of-the-art fighter jets.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter from Lockheed Martin and the Typhoon Eurofighter manufactured by European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) are competing for the 8.3 trillion won project along with Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) is expected to finalize its choice by next month, more than six months behind schedule.
“In the case of the Apache helicopters, we struck a contract with the U.S. military, which will procure them from Boeing. Hence, there was no room for a broker,” DAPA spokesman Baek Youn-hyeong said.
“We also have a bylaw, which obliges us to exclude brokers for big projects such as the F-X program. In fact, brokers have not been used since the launch of DAPA.”
DAPA was created in 2007 with the aim of raising transparency in the government’s procurement of military hardware.
Boeing Korea was not notified about the investigation of its former broker.
At issue is whether the country will penalize Boeing if it concludes that its broker leaked military secrets but officials remained tight-lipped on the possibility.