South Korean Prosecutors Raid Defense Agency's Office Over Classified Data Leak

South Korean prosecutors have raided the offices of the state Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) on suspicion of involvement in classified data leak to UK defense and aerospace company BAE Systems, local media reported Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the Yonhap news agency, a DAPA official was detained on Tuesday by investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office for questioning over the leak of confidential information on military equipment.

"Prosecutors spotted a possible leakage of confidential information to a foreign defense industry company while they were investigating DAPA's mismanagement of a project to upgrade KF-16 fighter jets," a military official told the media outlet.

According to the media outlet, earlier in November, South Korean prosecutors raided BAE Systems headquarters in Seoul and detected a huge amount of classified military data leaked to the company.

The raid was conducted as part of investigation into a waste of $89 billion in taxpayer money within the process of modernization of 134 Korean KF-16 fighter jets, which was initially signed with BAE Systems in 2011. However, later, DAPA changed the contractor to US Lockheed Martin Corporation, as the UK contractor demanded an additional payment.