By Kim Rahn
Retired Adm. Choi Yoon-hee, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been indicted without detention on allegations of accepting bribes to help facilitate an arms deal, according to a joint government investigation team, Sunday.
Wrapping up its one-year investigation, the team against corruption in the defense industry said it charged Choi with accepting kickbacks and forging public documents.
Choi is the highest-ranking military officer to be indicted for corruption since 1996 when former Defense Minister Lee Yong-ho was arrested.
Choi is accused of ordering his staffers to forge documents about the operational capability of AW159 Lynx Wildcats, a search-and-rescue helicopter that Korea decided to adopt in 2013. He was chief of naval operations at the time of the evaluation in 2012.
The evaluation was made before the helicopter had been produced.
The probe team alleges that Choi had corrupt ties with Ham Tae-heon, an arms dealer who arranged the deal between the government and the helicopter maker, AgustaWestland.
Ham allegedly hired one of Choi's former aides at a restaurant he runs. He also allegedly met Choi's wife, Kim, at least once a month and let her eat free of charge at his restaurant and offered to provide food to Choi's official residence. He paid 20 million won in a donation on behalf of Kim to a temple she attended, according to the team.
Under such ties, Choi allegedly ordered a rear admiral surnamed Park to forge the documents. Kim also allegedly pressured Park to do so.
After the deal was made, Ham allegedly promised to offer 200 million won to Choi's son who was preparing to open a business. The son allegedly accepted 20 million won in September 2014, and the investigation team believes this was actually a bribe for the father.
"During previous questioning, Choi claimed that the money transaction was between Ham and his son, unrelated to the chopper deal," a probe team official said. "But Ham visited Choi's residence several times around the time of the transaction, and it is very unlikely that Choi did not know about this."
The team also indicted Ham without detention on charges of offering a bribe. It earlier twice sought an arrest warrant for him, but local courts rejected the requests, saying Ham was unlikely to flee and the probe team needed more evidence to prove the allegations.
Agency for Defense Development President Jung Hong-yong and a researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses were also indicted for allegedly receiving kickbacks from Ham.
Since the team started its investigation in November last year, it has charged 74 people with corruption, arresting 51 of them. Forty-two were former and incumbent military personnel, while others were public officials and business people.
Of them, former Chief of Naval Operations Jung Ok-keun was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for receiving kickbacks from STX Group through his son's company in return for business favors.
Retired Adm. Choi Yoon-hee, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been indicted without detention on allegations of accepting bribes to help facilitate an arms deal, according to a joint government investigation team, Sunday.
Wrapping up its one-year investigation, the team against corruption in the defense industry said it charged Choi with accepting kickbacks and forging public documents.
Choi is the highest-ranking military officer to be indicted for corruption since 1996 when former Defense Minister Lee Yong-ho was arrested.
Choi is accused of ordering his staffers to forge documents about the operational capability of AW159 Lynx Wildcats, a search-and-rescue helicopter that Korea decided to adopt in 2013. He was chief of naval operations at the time of the evaluation in 2012.
The evaluation was made before the helicopter had been produced.
The probe team alleges that Choi had corrupt ties with Ham Tae-heon, an arms dealer who arranged the deal between the government and the helicopter maker, AgustaWestland.
Ham allegedly hired one of Choi's former aides at a restaurant he runs. He also allegedly met Choi's wife, Kim, at least once a month and let her eat free of charge at his restaurant and offered to provide food to Choi's official residence. He paid 20 million won in a donation on behalf of Kim to a temple she attended, according to the team.
Under such ties, Choi allegedly ordered a rear admiral surnamed Park to forge the documents. Kim also allegedly pressured Park to do so.
After the deal was made, Ham allegedly promised to offer 200 million won to Choi's son who was preparing to open a business. The son allegedly accepted 20 million won in September 2014, and the investigation team believes this was actually a bribe for the father.
"During previous questioning, Choi claimed that the money transaction was between Ham and his son, unrelated to the chopper deal," a probe team official said. "But Ham visited Choi's residence several times around the time of the transaction, and it is very unlikely that Choi did not know about this."
The team also indicted Ham without detention on charges of offering a bribe. It earlier twice sought an arrest warrant for him, but local courts rejected the requests, saying Ham was unlikely to flee and the probe team needed more evidence to prove the allegations.
Agency for Defense Development President Jung Hong-yong and a researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses were also indicted for allegedly receiving kickbacks from Ham.
Since the team started its investigation in November last year, it has charged 74 people with corruption, arresting 51 of them. Forty-two were former and incumbent military personnel, while others were public officials and business people.
Of them, former Chief of Naval Operations Jung Ok-keun was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for receiving kickbacks from STX Group through his son's company in return for business favors.
