South Korean officials have raided the offices of Saab and a research institute in Seoul as part of an investigation into alleged corruption related to defence contracts for the development of the KF-X fighter programme.
"We are investigating the Korean branch of the Swedish company Saab and the private company, Security Management Institute, for leaking secret information on the KF-X," says the country's defence ministry.
The SMI, a research institute closely affiliated to the government and which has access to classified information, has been helping the defence ministry to conduct research on the KF-X programme and was asked to provide recommendations on its direction.
Officials from the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Korea's top spy agency, and the Defense Security Command (DSC), raided the Saab and SMI offices following allegations that the Swedish company paid for technical information on the proposed fighter. They are questioning six people from both organisations as part of the investigation, which is likely to be concluded by the end of October.
According to South Korean news reports, Saab says that it paid SKr120,000 ($17,100) to SMI to sponsor a seminar by its chief executive at a Swedish trade fair last March. But Saab had no ongoing relationship with SMI and has never paid the company for information on the KF-X, it adds.
Saab is one of several foreign defence companies that have been asked to look into getting involved in the $10 billion KF-X programme, which aims to develop a fighter to replace the country's McDonnell Douglas F-4s. Seoul has also approached Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
Source: Flight International
