Bribery investigations may undermine a French company's bid for a multi-billion dollar Korean fighter project.
The Defense Ministry says Dassault Aviation may lose out in its bid to win the project ... as a result of the government's investigations into bribery allegations. A local agent working on Dassault's behalf is under custody for allegedly bribing a military officer involved in the deal. The officer allegedly received eight thousand-400 U.S. dollars. Two other South Korean military officers have been detained in connection with the allegations. A ministry official said that it will decide whether Dassault is disqualified or not after the investigation. Dassault has denied any connection to the bribery allegations. A Dassault official said its Rafale combat aircraft had come out on top of a U.S. competitor in operational and price terms. Rafale and the latest version of Boeing's F-15 are leading the four-way fight to supply Seoul with 40 fighter jets. The Typhoon from a European consortium ... Eurofighter ... and Russia's Sukhoi Su-35 are also competing for the project. A successful winner is to be announced in the coming weeks.