By Jun Ji-hye
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said Tuesday that it will push for legislation to make it possible for the ministry to suspend or dismiss the head of the Korean Veterans Association (KorVA).
The ministry will also push for dividing the association’s management and its profit-making businesses in order to prevent possible corruption in advance.
These are part of the ministry’s efforts to fundamentally reform the veterans’ association that has been mired in turmoil over a series of allegations of corruption involving its former chairman Cho Nam-pung.
The former Army general was arrested in late November on charges of accepting approximately 500 million won ($431,500) in bribes.
The measures were announced days after an extraordinary general meeting of the KorVA, which approved a motion to dismiss Cho on Jan. 13.
The ministry is in charge of supervising the association. But under the standing law, it is not authorized to order a chairman to be suspended or dismissed. The ministry has said that it has been difficult for the government to deeply monitor the association as it has its own internal rules.
“The proposed measures are meaningful in that the ministry is moving to enhance its supervisory power to address problems within KorVA that the ministry has not been able to resolve,” said Vice Minister Choi Wan-geun.
The ministry added that it will create a separate organization such as a foundation that will be tasked with dealing with the association’s profit-making businesses, so that the KorVA can commit itself to its duty of supporting the homeland defense reserve forces and promoting patriotic spirit.
Cho has been accused of taking kickbacks from companies affiliated with the association in exchange for offering business favors after he was inaugurated in April. He also faces allegations of hiring people close to him and appointing them to crucial posts in companies and other related organizations in exchange for bribes.
The KorVA has about 8.5 million members nationwide and runs 10 enterprises with total annual sales estimated at about 400 billion won.
Because of the huge number of members and large profit it makes, the association has been frequently embroiled in controversy.
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