A special investigation team of the Ministry of National Defense has arrested two officials at the Gyeryongdae military compound in South Chungcheong Province for their alleged involvement in bribery cases, ministry officials said Monday.
The team, launched last month under the direction of Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, arrested an unidentified official suspected of having inflated the cost of furniture supplied to the Gyeryongdae headquarters in 2006 and receiving money from a furniture store involved in kickbacks, they said.
Investigators also arrested a Marine officer who had allegedly been involved in a similar corruption case, they added.
"Minister Kim said last month that he wants to complete the investigation in a month, but it is expected to continue until the year's end," a ministry official said, requesting not to be identified. "The minister has agreed on the timeline, stressing that uncovering the truth behind the four-year-old case in a thorough manner is the top priority."
Military investigators had already conducted probes into the scandal regarding the furniture four times since 2006, but all suspects were found not guilty due to a lack of evidence.
The case resurfaced last month, when Lieutenant Commander Kim Young-soo spoke up regarding irregularities surrounding the supply of furniture at Gyeryongdae.
Kim argued that the Gyeryongdae Support Group selected a furniture firm to supply furniture between 2003 and 2005. But through an under-the-table deal with the firm, the group inflated the unit costs of the furniture. As a result, about 940 million won of taxpayers' money was wasted, the officer said.
After Kim blew the whistle on the deal, military authorities launched a re-investigation of the case and traced the money accounts of the suspects concerned.
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Please stay on topic.
tuscan (75.55.48.180)
11-04-2009 13:44
jewboyz: Yeah South korean military corruption is so high that the ones who invaded Iraq based on $$$ and oil was the USA and UK. ^^ funny
archaeologist17 (221.160.65.239)
11-04-2009 05:53
when the americans become perfect, whichthey are not, and their people act perfectly thenthey may have a say about others, as it stands their sins are NOTup for ridicule nor judgement by those not fit, as they are far worse than the ones written about in this article. they do the same things as these two men so they cannot talk
donnieboy48 (122.153.192.82)
11-03-2009 14:59
Yes, thta's "the world acording to archie".. America is to be blamed for everything...
johnhenry (211.182.149.1)
11-03-2009 08:44
GB: I guess you've forgotten that Thiessen's opinion of Koreans is so low that according to him they cannot be responsible for anything they do. It must always be America's fault. So, yes, this article is about Korean criminals, but, as they're incapable (according to Thiessen) of responsibility, it's really about America's crimes!
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