[Defense Column] Resolute Action Needed Against Defense Industry Corruption

The Qing Dynasty introduced Western-style warships about 15 years ahead of Japan, starting in 1861. It possessed 29 ships, including two state-of-the-art 7,000-ton German-made ironclads. It was invincible. When the First Sino-Japanese War broke out 130 years ago, Japan was fearful. They regarded the Qing fleet as a monster. On the decisive day, in September 1894, the fleets of both countries clashed near the mouth of the Yalu River on Korea’s west coast.

However, the outcome was unexpected. No matter how many shells the Qing fired, they did not explode. Only mud, beans, and coal dust scattered everywhere. This was because the company supplying naval shells to the Qing had deceived them by delivering practice mud shells as actual combat shells. The Japanese fleet achieved a decisive victory. After the war, the Qing ships were captured by the Japanese military and sold as scrap metal. Their pride was also wounded. The Qing were humiliated by having to cede the Liaodong Peninsula and Taiwan Island to Japan and pay war reparations equivalent to three years’ worth of their budget at the time.

Even after more than a century, defense industry corruption persists. Last year, Indian investigative authorities filed charges and investigated British defense companies BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce. These companies, which manufacture advanced trainer aircraft, signed a contract with India in 2005 to supply 24 advanced trainer jets for about 1.2 trillion won. During this process, these companies paid bribes, commissions, and gratuities to intermediaries. The intermediaries pressured Indian government officials to facilitate the contract.

China is also struggling with defense industry corruption. Chinese authorities are currently investigating former defense ministers. While investigating former Defense Minister Li Xiangfu, corruption allegations against his predecessor, former Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, were confirmed. It is reported that they accepted huge sums of money and helped others gain unfair benefits. Li was abruptly dismissed in October last year, and both he and Wei were expelled from the party on the 27th of last month. Executives of state-owned enterprises were also removed en masse.

Japan is no different. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is recently suspected of creating slush funds. The amount is said to be several hundred million yen. The slush funds were allegedly used to provide money and gifts to crew members of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarines. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is responsible for repairing submarines owned by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. Repair costs reach tens of billions of yen, and investigations are underway to determine if there were any overcharges to the government.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries is our competitor. It is competing with domestic defense companies in the bidding for 12 Canadian submarines worth 60 trillion won. So, can we laugh at the corruption allegations against Japanese companies? We cannot. Our shipbuilding companies, which must compete with Kawasaki, have leaked military secrets from the Naval Headquarters. There are even allegations that they recruited a former national security chief of the current government to exert pressure. Nevertheless, the military authorities are pushing for a sole-source contract with this company for the domestic Korean Destroyer Experimental (KDDX) project. That is not all. Another company, which was convicted for leaking military secrets and accepting bribes from the Army, was even given the opportunity to participate in bids.

We must be resolute against companies or individuals involved in defense industry corruption. Consider the so-called ‘Robert Kim case’ from 1996. Robert Kim, an analyst at the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), leaked military secrets related to the armed infiltration incident in Gangneung to a Korean military attach? stationed at the U.S. Embassy. Robert Kim was arrested by the FBI, and the Korean attach? was expelled. The U.S. Federal Court applied espionage charges and sentenced Robert Kim to nine years in prison and three years of probation. For ‘K-Defense’ to thrive, companies or individuals involved in defense corruption must not be granted impunity. It leads to the waste of public resources, undermines the judicial system, and destroys national trust.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.