[Editorial] Wholly unchecked

The Korean Veterans Association has been embroiled in a corruption scandal, plunging it into its biggest crisis since its establishment in 1952 in the midst of the Korean War.

The scandal surrounds its chairman Cho Nam-poong, a retired four-star Army general who was elected in April. A special audit conducted by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs disclosed various irregularities.

Cho was found to have handpicked -- in total violation of the association’s personnel rules -- 25 executives and staffers -- 12 for its head office and the rest for its 10 affiliates.

Most astonishing is that Cho brought in a man who is a close associate of a former association executive who is on trial for causing a huge financial loss to the association.

The former executive is accused of causing the association a loss of 79 billion won ($67.5 million) in connection with payment guarantee for bonds with warranty. It is unbelievable that the man who was hired by Cho attempted to fake documents in favor of the former executive, including those on the amount of money the association could have recovered.

Simply put, Cho brought in the man to cover up the wrongdoings of a former executive. It indeed is troubling that things like this happened at a 63-year-old organization which represents 1.32 million retired soldiers and which manages businesses whose combined annual sales exceed 400 billion won.

Then the labor union’s claim that the former executive made a financial contribution to Cho’s election campaign in April should make you nod your head.

As a matter fact, the union released papers and transcripts of a conversation with Cho in which he admitted to having taken “outside financial contributions” during the election. He was quoted as saying that he simply did what his predecessors had done.

This alone makes us believe that the ministry’s decision to cancel the 25 appointments and discipline two personnel staffers of the association is not sufficient. Law-enforcement authorities must launch a probe into Cho’s alleged election irregularities and other misdeeds immediately.

Being a fraternity of retired members of the military who served the nation, the association receives government subsidies and runs some of its businesses under government patronage. It requires a higher level of ethical standard than other fraternities and social groups.