Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Two Air Force officers caught selling marijuana
By Jun Ji-hye
Two Air Force officers were caught selling marijuana, and are currently serving sentences in a military prison, Rep. Chung Mi-kyung of the ruling Saenuri Party disclosed Tuesday.
Citing data submitted by the Ministry of National Defense ahead of a parliamentary audit, Chung said two first lieutenants, whose names are withheld, sold marijuana to six civilians 23 times from November last year to March this year.
Military prosecutors indicted them in April.
The two were friends and made direct deals with buyers in Seoul.
One supplier is the relative of one of the convicted officers, a first lieutenant, who was sentenced to six months in prison after a military trial was held in June.
The other first lieutenant was sentenced to eight months in prison because he smoked and sold marijuana.
They are now waiting for an appeal hearing.
The second-term lawmaker, who belongs to the National Assembly Defense Committee, noted that the number of drug criminals in military was four in 2013, but the number jumped to 17 in 2014.
As of June this year, seven were caught using drugs.
The lawmaker said the number of incidents of taking GHB (Gamma Hydroxide Butyrolactone) has increased as well.
“The use of drugs by soldiers and officers in active service can shake the backbone of the national security,” she said. “The military should urgently come up with measures to prevent reoccurrences of such incidents and strengthen discipline.”
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