Defective Uniform Delivery to Veterans Organizations... Will It Change This Time?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] As the Ministry of National Defense has begun discussing improvement plans for the procurement system of Western food ingredients and clothing, attention is focusing on whether the clothing procurement system, centered on veterans' organizations that supply clothing to active-duty soldiers, will change.

On the 3rd, the Ministry of National Defense held the first meeting of the 'Soldiers' Living Conditions Improvement TF,' which included officials from eight government ministries, cooks, and civilian experts, to discuss improvement plans for the procurement system of food ingredients and clothing. The idea is to change the current clothing procurement system, which is centered on specific organizations such as veterans' groups.

The Ministry of National Defense also converted 17 clothing items, including all-season sportswear, triangular and square underwear, winter thermal wear, and cold-weather socks, which were previously contracted through direct contracts mainly with veterans' organizations, into competitive contracts. However, defective products have still not improved, and dissatisfaction among military personnel has grown. In this TF, they discussed expanding the distribution of civilian commercial products for clothing items that soldiers always wear, such as shirts, underwear, socks, sportswear, and sneakers, reflecting the demands of MZ generation (born between 1980 and 2000) soldiers.

The government plans to completely overhaul the management and supervision system for veterans' organizations' profit-making businesses. Recently, four laws related to profit-making businesses of veterans' organizations, including the 'Act on the Establishment of Organizations for National Merit Recipients,' were reviewed and approved at the Cabinet meeting. The amendments will be promulgated within this month and will take effect six months after promulgation, starting in December.

Until now, veterans' organizations have continuously engaged in illegal activities such as lending their names or operating businesses without approval. In particular, even when designated as disqualified contractors, they have participated in bids again. When designated as a disqualified contractor, they are prohibited from participating in government bids for a certain period.

Veterans' organizations have also been uncooperative in refunding unfair profits. In response, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration signed a 'performance delay special agreement' with veterans' organizations to recover national funds. This means that while maintaining military supply contracts, the payment for goods would be refunded to the national treasury. However, from the veterans' organizations' perspective, this effectively guarantees military supply contracts for a certain period, leading to criticism that it ultimately provides them with benefits.

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