ID :
184050
Tue, 05/24/2011 - 11:11
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/184050
The shortlink copeid
PM calls for transparent management of military equipment, facilities
(ATTN: ADDS presidential spokeswoman's comments in third from last para)
SEOUL, May 24 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik on Tuesday called for epoch-making changes to the procurement and management of military equipment and facilities.
Kim said during a Cabinet meeting that there are mounting concerns that a recent series of corruption scandals involving the military may undermine the government's efforts to reform the armed forces.
"Military reform measures, including the streamlining of the top military command structure, can hardly bear fruit if military equipment and facilities, which are key to the strength of national defense, do not function properly," he said.
Last week, a lawmaker said all three of the Navy's brand-new submarines have been suspended from operation since early last year due to bolt defects. Seoul police also have been probing a local importer suspected of swindling the Army by supplying faulty barrels for anti-aircraft guns meant to safeguard the skies of the nation's capital.
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a set of military reform bills calling for the military to streamline its top command structure and give more power to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to enhance the interoperability of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Introduced in March in response to North Korea's two deadly attacks last year, the bills need to get parliamentary consent to become laws.
"National security is not a partisan issue," presidential spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung said. "We hope these bills will pass through the National Assembly at an early date" so as not to let lessons learned from the North's attacks last year go in vain and to improve the military's efficiency, she said.
In his speech to the Cabinet meeting, the prime minister also asked related government offices to thoroughly investigate the alleged burial of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange at the United States Forces Korea (USFK) base Camp Carroll in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, in close cooperation with the U.S.
He said the details of the probe should be made public to dispel any public doubts.
sshim@yna.co.kr
SEOUL, May 24 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik on Tuesday called for epoch-making changes to the procurement and management of military equipment and facilities.
Kim said during a Cabinet meeting that there are mounting concerns that a recent series of corruption scandals involving the military may undermine the government's efforts to reform the armed forces.
"Military reform measures, including the streamlining of the top military command structure, can hardly bear fruit if military equipment and facilities, which are key to the strength of national defense, do not function properly," he said.
Last week, a lawmaker said all three of the Navy's brand-new submarines have been suspended from operation since early last year due to bolt defects. Seoul police also have been probing a local importer suspected of swindling the Army by supplying faulty barrels for anti-aircraft guns meant to safeguard the skies of the nation's capital.
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a set of military reform bills calling for the military to streamline its top command structure and give more power to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to enhance the interoperability of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Introduced in March in response to North Korea's two deadly attacks last year, the bills need to get parliamentary consent to become laws.
"National security is not a partisan issue," presidential spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung said. "We hope these bills will pass through the National Assembly at an early date" so as not to let lessons learned from the North's attacks last year go in vain and to improve the military's efficiency, she said.
In his speech to the Cabinet meeting, the prime minister also asked related government offices to thoroughly investigate the alleged burial of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange at the United States Forces Korea (USFK) base Camp Carroll in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, in close cooperation with the U.S.
He said the details of the probe should be made public to dispel any public doubts.
sshim@yna.co.kr
