[Kyunghyang Oct. 1][Editorial] Root out the Source of Corruption in Military Supplies for ROKS Tongyeong (Fwd)

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[Editorial] Root out the Source of Corruption in Military Supplies for ROKS Tongyeong

Posted on : 2014-10-02 16:39

Prosecutors investigating the alleged corruption in military supplies for ROKS Tongyeong (a naval rescue boat) requested an arrest warrant for former Captain Jeon and former Commander Choi on Tuesday. The two men who were in charge of selecting the equipment at the time ROKS Tongyeong was built are suspected of having fabricated relevant documents so that a certain company could supply the equipment. Earlier, prosecutors confirmed that some equipment for ROKS Tongyeong were bid at a high price despite their defects and conducted a search of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and secured related documents. In the process, allegations that a former Navy captain now working as a weapons' lobbyist was involved were raised, and now the investigation into the ROKS Tongyeong looks to spread to a bribery scandal concerning the "military mafia (former military figures in related private businesses)."

ROKS Tongyeong is the latest rescue boat introduced after the 2010 bombing of ROKS Cheonan. It was built completely with domestic technology in 2012 on a budget of 159 billion won for the purpose of searching and salvaging sunken vessels. This boat emerged as a topic of concern last April when the Sewol sank. A joint rescue team of public, private and military equipment and personnel was established to respond to the national disaster, but it was belatedly confirmed that the state-of-the-art rescue vessel, which the military had prided itself of, had not been able to move a bit for more than two years since its launching ceremony. Outrageously, the military had refused to take over the ship because the key rescue equipment had turned out to be defective.

The results of an investigation by the Board of Audit and Inspection and the prosecutors who traced this issue were shocking. The performance of the sonobuoy in ROKS Tongyeong was revealed to be outdated, resembling something from the 1970s. That equipment from forty years ago was used on the latest rescue boat was beyond our imagination. At the time of the launching ceremony of the ROKS Tongyeong, the Navy had said, "With the finest fighting power, we can now quickly respond to safety accidents at sea," but reality made such proud words shameful. What's more, it was confirmed that the military had been ripped off, paying 4.1 billion won for a part which they could have bought for 200 million won. The Navy was able to receive a defective vessel with different product specifications and poor performance, because employees at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration had fabricated the documents. What other reason could there be to such a problem if these employees had not turned a blind eye to the defects in exchange for bribes?

We are sick and tired of corruption in military supplies, news of which seem to pour out almost daily. Where have all the measures to prevent recurrence gone, the ones the military presents each time such corruption in military supplies surfaces? If these men took advantage of the purchase of equipment related to the nation's security to satisfy their personal interests, this cannot be forgiven. If senior military officers are this corrupt, we can easily picture the moral hazard in the military. Prosecutors should conduct a thorough investigation of the corruption in military supplies for ROKS Tongyeong and strictly punish those related. There can be no sanctuary in this investigation. They should investigate to see if any chief military figures were involved and identify the bribe chain leading from weapons brokers and take this as an opportunity to eliminate military connections with private firms.