Ex-Joint Chiefs of Staff chief gets jail term for bribery

A Seoul court on Friday sentenced former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Choi Yoon-hee to a year in prison on charges of bribery in the latest ruling that highlights the corruption in the country's defense industry.

The Seoul Central District Court found the 63-year-old, who served as the JCS chief from 2013 to 2015, guilty of receiving 20 million won ($17,000) from an arms broker, identified only by his surname Ham, in 2014. Ham brokered the import of the AW159 Wildcat, which the Navy adopted in 2013, when Choi held the post of Navy chief of staff.

The money was actually given to Choi's son, but the court said it can be deemed as a bribe given to Choi, considering he was aware of the transaction and that the son lived with Choi without any income or property.

The court ordered the defendant to pay a fine of 40 million won and forfeit another 5 million won.

Still, the court freed Choi of allegations that he ordered his subordinates to write a favorable performance evaluation of the Wildcat, citing a lack of evidence.

The bribe giver Ham was also sentenced to two years in jail and ordered to forfeit 15 million won.

Corruption has been a nagging problem in South Korea's defense industry. President Park Geun-hye declared an all-out war against it when the nation's first indigenous salvage ship, the Tongyeong, failed to function during a major ferry disaster in 2014. (Yonhap)