Procurement agency set to undergo major overhaul

By Jun Ji-hye

Lee Yong-geol

The nation’s military procurement agency is seeking to undergo a major overhaul of its management and personnel in an effort to stamp out corruption on defense industry projects, according to the head of the agency.

Lee Yong-geol, who heads the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said that his agency is planning to expand the number of civilian employees to be up to 70 percent of the total workforce from the current 50 percent.

He also said that the DAPA will expand the range of information that it releases.

“The DAPA is planning to reduce the number of soldiers on its books and instead employ more civil servants and professionals from outside,” said Lee in an interview.

The remark came amid growing criticism over a recent bribery case involving a Navy vessel project. Earlier last month, a former Navy officer was indicted on charges of forging a document for selection of a sonar system for the 3,500-ton Tongyeong, the first domestic-made rescue and salvage ship, when he was in charge of selecting a supplier on behalf of the DAPA.

The vessel that required 160 billion won ($146 million) was launched in September 2012, but failed to take part in the rescue operation after the Sewol ferry sank in April due to problems with its sonar system.

President Park Geun-hye also criticized the agency, commenting “Petty corruption can weaken core military capabilities.”

Critics have argued that such corruption resulted from collusive relationships between retired soldiers working for defense industries and soldiers on active service working for the procurement agency.

Lee’s suggestion, calling for the recruitment of more civilians, was construed as an apparent effort to root out such relationships.

Currently, a total of 1,600 people are working for the DAPA with the same ratio between soldiers and civilians.

“The agency will strengthen inspection and punishment to prevent recurrence of bribery scandals involving supply contracts,” Lee said, adding that the DAPA will set up a task force to reform the weapons acquisition system.

Lee noted that the latest bribery case exposed deep-rooted malpractices of the management system of defense industry.

“The agency will take the Tongyeong case as an opportunity to turn evils into blessings. We will come up with fundamental measures to prevent reoccurrence of such case,” he said.

Opening its work process is another promise that Lee made to improve the defense acquisition environment.

“The agency will let outside professionals take part in the acquisition projects to guarantee a fair process,” he said.

He said that bringing in outside figures would enable the members of the agency to hold each other in check, adding that the DAPA is also considering instituting an ombudsman system under which those appointed would serve a two-year term.

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