'저는 그들의 땅을 지키기 위하여 싸웠던 인디안들의 이야기를 기억합니다. 백인들이 그들의 신성한 숲에 도로를 만들기 위하여 나무들을 잘랐습니다. 매일밤 인디안들이 나가서 백인들이 만든 그 길을 해체하면 그 다음 날 백인들이 와서 도로를 다시 짓곤 했습니다. 한동안 그 것이 반복되었습니다. 그러던 어느날, 숲에서 가장 큰 나무가 백인들이 일할 동안 그들 머리 위로 떨어져 말과 마차들을 파괴하고 그들 중 몇몇을 죽였습니다. 그러자 백인들은 떠났고 결코 다시 오지 않았습니다….' (브루스 개그논)





For any updates on the struggle against the Jeju naval base, please go to savejejunow.org and facebook no naval base on Jeju. The facebook provides latest updates.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Text Fwd: Two Military Officials Arrested for Corruption

* Korea Times
Two Military Officials Arrested for Corruption
By Jung Sung-ki, Staff Reporter

A special investigation team of the Ministry of National Defense has arrested two officials at the Gyeryongdae military compound in South Chungcheong Province for their alleged involvement in bribery cases, ministry officials said Monday.

The team, launched last month under the direction of Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, arrested an unidentified official suspected of having inflated the cost of furniture supplied to the Gyeryongdae headquarters in 2006 and receiving money from a furniture store involved in kickbacks, they said.

Investigators also arrested a Marine officer who had allegedly been involved in a similar corruption case, they added.

"Minister Kim said last month that he wants to complete the investigation in a month, but it is expected to continue until the year's end," a ministry official said, requesting not to be identified. "The minister has agreed on the timeline, stressing that uncovering the truth behind the four-year-old case in a thorough manner is the top priority."

Military investigators had already conducted probes into the scandal regarding the furniture four times since 2006, but all suspects were found not guilty due to a lack of evidence.

The case resurfaced last month, when Lieutenant Commander Kim Young-soo spoke up regarding irregularities surrounding the supply of furniture at Gyeryongdae.

Kim argued that the Gyeryongdae Support Group selected a furniture firm to supply furniture between 2003 and 2005. But through an under-the-table deal with the firm, the group inflated the unit costs of the furniture. As a result, about 940 million won of taxpayers' money was wasted, the officer said.

After Kim blew the whistle on the deal, military authorities launched a re-investigation of the case and traced the money accounts of the suspects concerned.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

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