January 11 2016
A former veterans minister and grandson of one of the most revered patriots received a four-year prison sentence Monday on charges of helping a foreign defense firm win a bid to build military helicopters in exchange for kickbacks.
The Seoul Central District Court convicted Kim Yang, former head of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, of lobbying senior military officers to pick the Anglo-Italian AW159 Wildcat as the country’s new multi-mission maritime helicopter, while receiving some 1.4 billion won (US$1.15 million) from the helicopter manufacturer from 2011 to 2014. The court ordered Kim to forfeit 1.38 billion won.
The 63-year-old was hired at AgustaWestland, the multinational helicopter design and manufacturing company in 2011, right after South Korea decided to purchase 20 helicopters to boost anti-submarine capabilities, prosecutors said. Kim is a grandson of Kim Koo, a famous freedom fighter during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea who was assassinated by an ultra-right-wing military officer in 1949.