By Jun Ji-hye
The Ministry of National Defense plans to introduce an anonymous corruption report system next month aimed at better protecting whistleblowers.
The ministry has been operating a corruption report center since 2002 but not many reports have been made, apparently because the center has used only an internal computer network, which means whistleblowers could be easily identified.
The center received only four reports between 2012 and 2016, according to the ministry.
“We decided to use the network system of a private institution to guarantee anonymity and strengthen security,” the ministry said in a press release. “The measure is to encourage anonymous tip-offs of corruption and prevent potential corruption.”
Once the new system is in operation, all soldiers and civilian employees serving at the ministry, the Army, the Air Force and the Navy as well as affiliated organizations will be able to make reports about corruption by using their own computers or mobile phones, the ministry said.
Informants do not need to worry about possible exposure of their identifications under the new system, the ministry added.
Corruption includes acceptance of bribes, embezzlement or misappropriation of public money, illegal solicitation and other unlawful acts related to managing personnel and signing contracts.
“We will not take action on groundless slander intended to disrupt somebody’s promotion,” a ministry official said on condition of anonymity. “We expect the new system to enhance the ministry’s integrity and credibility.”
The measure comes as the ministry has suffered from rampant defense corruption since 2014, which President Park Geun-hye called an act harming national security and benefiting the enemy.
The prosecution carried out a large-scale investigation for about a year into a variety of corruption cases since November 2014, which resulted in 70 people being indicted, including retired Adm. Choi Yoon-hee, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Choi was indicted over the allegations of accepting bribes and forging public documents to help facilitate an arms deal.
According to the prosecution, Choi ordered his staff to forge documents about the operational capability of the Anglo-Italian AW159 Wildcat, a search-and-rescue and surface warfare helicopter that Korea decided to buy for the Navy in 2013. He was chief of naval operations at the time of the evaluation in 2012.
Choi was the highest-ranking military officer to be indicted for corruption since 1996 when former Defense Minister Lee Yong-ho was arrested.
Others indicted included former Agency for Defense Development President Jung Hong-yong, a retired Army lieutenant-general. Jung was accused of taking bribes from an arms dealer.
In order to root out corruption in the defense industry, the government has been taking various measures including appointing a senior prosecutor as a defense project supervisor directly under the head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.