By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

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.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr