South Korea's ex-arms procurement chief questioned

South Korea’s former arms procurement chief Chang Sooman faced questioning last week over allegations he received bribes from Daewoo Engineering and Construction in return for granting business favours.

Chang is also under investigation over allegations that he got tens of millions of won from jailed businessman Yu Sang-bong, who was arrested last December for illegally brokering a number of contracts to operate cafeterias at construction sites.

Chang was summoned to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office last Friday morning.

A prosecution official said investigators are questioning Chang about whether he received gift certificates worth about 10 million won (AUD$9,000) issued by a department store in September from Daewoo E&C CEO Seo Jong-uk in return for helping the firm win a military construction deal.

Last April, the builder won a 47.8 billion won (AUD$42.3 million) contract to relocate the Special Warfare Command and an airborne unit from their current location in southern Seoul to Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. At the time, Chang was the vice defence minister.

They are also combing computer hard disks and financial documents confiscated from the Daewoo headquarters in downtown Seoul, Thursday, to discover whether the builder gave Chang more cash and gifts at other times.

About 10 investigators from the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors Office searched the company’s headquarters, seizing computer drives and corporate files.

Chang is also facing questioning over another bribery scandal that he received a total of 63 million won (AUD$55, 000) from Yu in return for helping the broker secure the operational rights of cafeterias at construction sites, which are extremely lucrative. 

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