LIG D&A restructures and creates compliance office as DAPA contract review committee weighs bribery sanctions

LIG Defense & Aerospace announced on October 19, 2026 a reorganization effective November 2 that replaces four of its seven business and management division heads, creates head-of-business and head-of-operations posts reporting to the CEO, establishes a Compliance and Audit Office to strengthen internal controls, and names a regional head for Europe and Latin America. The move came a day before the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's 20-member contract review committee met on October 20 to decide sanctions after prosecutors indicted two LIG D&A executives for allegedly providing about 460 million won in bribes to a DAPA evaluation official, alongside two cost-accounting violations. All 27 prior bribery cases since DAPA's founding ended in bid-participation bans, and the State Contracts Act prescribes a two-year ban for bribes of 200 million won or more, though a fine may substitute where competition would otherwise collapse; DAPA Minister Lee Yong-cheol told lawmakers he was weighing the impact on force deployment. At stake are LIG D&A's roughly 1 trillion won electronic warfare aircraft program and its KF-21 missile contracts. The committee's decision had not been published as of October 20.