Air Force Drone Procurement Corruption Case – K&P Law Firm Whistleblowing Leads to Official Disciplinary Action

1. Background of the 6.4 Billion Won Drone Procurement Corruption Case

The “Air Force Unmanned Aircraft Manufacturing and Installation” procurement project was a significant defense project worth 6.4 billion won in total. However, allegations emerged that officials from the Air Force Headquarters Force Support System Project Group provided unfair advantages to a specific company during this project.

The core issue of this case involves the responsible officials arbitrarily modifying bidding procedures to enable a specific company’s participation and condoning violations of Request for Proposal (RFP) standards during the performance evaluation phase.

Particularly noteworthy is that despite five out of six participating companies raising objections unanimously at the performance evaluation site, the officials dismissed these concerns and proceeded with the evaluation. This posed serious problems for the fairness of public procurement. K&P Law Firm successfully identified these irregularities and held the responsible parties accountable through legal action.

2. Bid Announcement Manipulation Allegations for Specific Company Benefits

Intentional Manipulation of Bid Announcement Schedule

The initial announcement was published on August 23, Year XX. Subsequently, the responsible officials took a series of highly suspicious actions.

On October 5, Year XX, they announced a bid postponement citing vague “administrative errors.” The following day, October 6, they announced plans to cancel the existing announcement and issue a new one. Then, on October 11 at 7:43 PM, they officially canceled the existing announcement and posted a new announcement just 30 minutes later at 8:13 PM.

Company Qualification Requirements and Specific Company’s Situation

The mandatory qualification requirements specified in the RFP were as follows:

• Korean Standard Industrial Classification 31312 (Unmanned Aircraft and Unmanned Flying Device Manufacturing) registration
• Korean Standard Industrial Classification 301 or 302 (Automotive Engine Manufacturing or Automotive Body Manufacturing) registration
• Software Industry Promotion Act-related business registration

Investigation revealed that the specific company in question did not meet the Korean Standard Industrial Classification 301 or 302 requirements at the time of the initial announcement. Strong allegations emerged that the responsible officials artificially manipulated the bidding schedule to provide the company with time to meet the requirements.

3. Specification Violations Discovered During Performance Evaluation

Frequency Usage Standard Violations

According to the domestic frequency allocation table and RFP section 3.3.2.3.4, the frequency band available for unmanned aircraft is strictly limited to 5.65-5.85GHz.

However, during the performance evaluation conducted on October 25, Year XX, in Gyuam-myeon, Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, the specific company was found to use the following unauthorized frequencies:

• 5,500MHz (frequency outside regulatory range)
• 5,580MHz (frequency outside regulatory range)
• 5,620MHz (frequency outside regulatory range)

These frequencies fall within the 5,470-5,650MHz range, which prohibits aviation mobile use and is only permitted for maritime radio navigation purposes. Using these frequencies for unmanned aircraft constitutes a clear violation of radio wave laws.

Inappropriate Response to On-Site Objections

All five companies participating in the performance evaluation, excluding the problematic company, strongly protested the use of frequencies that violated RFP standards. Some company representatives even captured smartphone footage of the unauthorized frequency usage as evidence.

However, the responsible officials refused to acknowledge these legitimate objections and continued with the performance evaluation. This represents a failure to fulfill the basic duty of officials to ensure fair evaluation.

4. K&P Law Firm’s Professional Whistleblowing and Disciplinary Results

Systematic Evidence Collection and Legal Review

K&P Law Firm went beyond simple problem identification in this case, achieving substantial results through professional and systematic legal response. The main achievements include:

• Systematic Evidence Securing: Organized submission of smartphone footage capturing specification-violating frequency usage at the performance evaluation site, consistent testimonies from five companies, and detailed records of on-site situations
• Accurate Analysis of Applicable Laws: Precise analysis and application of relevant laws including abuse of authority to obstruct rights, obstruction of official duties through hierarchy, violations of the Anti-Graft Act, and dereliction of duty
• Chronological Analysis of Bidding Process: Systematic organization of bid announcement changes in chronological order and concrete proof of correlations between the specific company’s qualification deficiencies and announcement cancellation timing

Official Violations Confirmed Through Investigation

Following K&P Law Firm’s whistleblowing, the subsequent investigation specifically confirmed the following problems with the responsible officials:

• Undermining Bidding Process Fairness: Confirmed that bid announcements were reissued despite the absence of reasonable and unavoidable grounds for canceling and reannouncing the bid.
• Negligent Management and Supervision of Performance Evaluation: Recognized failure to take appropriate action regarding frequency usage that differed from RFP specifications and ambiguous application of evaluation criteria that hindered fair assessment.

Achieving Substantial Results Through Disciplinary Action

K&P Law Firm’s professional and meticulous whistleblowing work resulted in disciplinary action against the responsible officials. This represents a significant achievement in thoroughly investigating corruption allegations in a project involving 6.4 billion won in defense budget and clearly establishing accountability for the involved officials.

Particularly, the detection of such irregularities in defense procurement and the disciplinary action against those responsible established an important precedent for preventing similar cases in the future.

5. Significance for Public Procurement Transparency

Through K&P Law Firm’s professional and systematic whistleblowing, irregularities in the 6.4 billion won Air Force drone procurement project were clearly exposed, and the responsible officials received disciplinary action.

The manipulation of bid announcement schedules for specific companies and the condoning of RFP standard violations during performance evaluation represented serious problems beyond simple work-related errors.

This case serves as a representative example of how professional monitoring and whistleblowing by private law firms can play a crucial role in public procurement. It also established an important precedent for ensuring transparency and fairness in defense procurement systems and preventing recurrence of similar irregularities.

Through this case, K&P Law Firm accumulated experience in professionally representing whistleblowers in large-scale government procurement corruption cases and achieving substantial results. The firm particularly demonstrated exceptional expertise in complex legal issues related to corporate public procurement. K&P Law Firm will continue its efforts to ensure transparency and fairness in public procurement.