By Add this to the ever growing list of corruption scandals involving USFK:
South Korean prosecutors said Thursday they are seeking an arrest warrant for a former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee accused of accepting more than $70,000 in bribes in connection with the expansion project at Camp Humphreys.
Pyeongtaek chief prosecutor Im Seok-pil said Thursday that Yang Hwa-sok, a 57-year-old South Korean man, is accused of accepting the bribes from the Jingsung Development construction company between January and September 2007.
Jingsung officials were unavailable for comment Thursday afternoon.
Corps of Engineers Far East District spokesman Joe Campbell confirmed Thursday that Yang, citing “personal reasons,” resigned his position as a general engineer on Feb. 13.
Campbell said Yang worked for the district’s Pyeongtaek resident office since July 1999. [Stars & Stripes]
I’m sure everyone reading this that follows USFK issues is not surprised with a bribery scandal involving the Camp Humphreys expansion. I’m willing to bet this is just the tip of the iceberg in regards to bribes surrounding the expansion project, but this scandal doesn’t bother me as much as the recent SSRT corruption scandal because servicemembers were getting directly screwed by the corruption in that scandal. In this scandal this guy was just screwing other construction companies from getting the contract which is about par for the course in Korea.
Personally I find the fact that the husband of Colonel Janice Dombie was given a multi-million dollar construction contract as part of the Camp Humphreys expansion from the US Army Corps of Engineers Far East District that his wife just happened to command at the time, far more offensive then this.
8:53 am on February 24th, 2008 1
This crap goes on all the time and it makes you wonder the moral values of the Korean people
Just look at the Osan golf course on an average day. All Koreans. And the other day I seen two (boss Cars) cars parked in the Handicap zone at the Osan Golf course….each car had a driver that was cleaning the car as the main occupant was golfing…..Now if a Base Employee is making that much money (or two base employees)at there KGS job then maybe we got to wonder what sort of kickbacks they are getting….and if they do not work on Osan (and I am certain they dont) then where the Phuck is their sponsors….and how many other times have these same people tried to get into restricted areas
1:13 pm on February 24th, 2008 2
The only thing more disgraceful than the husband of Colonel Janice Dombie given a multi-million dollar construction contract as part of the Camp Humphreys expansion was the COMPLETE lack of transparency in how it was done…
…or was it that “unavailable for comment” was the only comment by many involved.
…or was it the weasely statement by the USACoE spokesman that it was all on the up-and-up (despite being legally impossible) but with no details…
…or was it how Stars & Stripes, without asking any questions, passed the official comments all on to the public in an article written to give the appearance of closure without any explanation of how this could possible have been legal or ethical…
…or was it that this type of ethically-questionable situation is so common in USFK that nobody expects anything better as they all fight for their own piece of the gravy train without worry of exposure…
…or is it the unwritten rule that you don’t mess with another’s scam in USFK because you will get yours messed with or, at the least, your career will be stalled.
Now, does anybody actually think that this civilian Korean Army Corps of Engineers employee was in charge of everything all by himself without the oversight of some Army officer(s) who should be able to recognize a suspicious patern? For 70 grand, something noticeably unusual was done.
Every time there is a bribery scandal, it is easy to see in hindsight how something blindly incorrect was being supported by those in charge and most likely to benefit from a payoff to accept or ignore it… like overpriced and low-quality Internet.
With this in mind, it should be very easy to identify who is championing sub-standard work at inflated prices from dodgy contractors… or overlooking shady, yet common-knowledge, situations which they are in charge of (housing, slot machines, black marketing, Friendship passes, etc, Etc, ETC).
“This crap goes on all the time and it makes you wonder the moral values of the Korean people”
The problem is not the moral values of the Korean people (in Korea) so much as when American military leadership openly adopts those values…
…although, I suspect these are the moral values of many people… especially ones who seek power and are presented with opportunity. The difference is that, until recently, Americans engaged in this kind of activity kept it hidden better.
Now, USFK leadership simply makes its shady moves openly yet refuses to comment or release further information. Stars & Stripes goes along and never asks difficult questions or expects complete answers… and the unwashed masses go along because they are worried about their military careers which will place them in a position to do the same, their contracting job which is better than what they can get anywhere else, the exposure of their own personal scam, etc…
…or the continued ease of their reporting job which requires a good relationship with the people who most need honest exposure.
So, everybody kinda looks at the ground and digs their toe into the dirt and makes little “hmmmph” noises while hoping it will all go away…
…at least until it “comes to light” at which point the “system” is blamed instead of individuals… and everyone slaps themselves on the back and generates paperwork showing that a problem was solved… and a month later everything is back to “normal”.
Am I the only one who sees this? Am I wrong?
9:51 pm on February 24th, 2008 3
Please write your congressman – the military leadership knows what is going on, but they refuse to do anything until a congressman gets involved. Thats great leadership
2:16 am on March 11th, 2008 4
[...] Click here to read more. Click here to return to Korea Click here to return to MySpace News. [...]
8:17 pm on July 29th, 2008 5
[...] the nature of doing business in Korea that the Camp Humphreys expansion project has had a number of corruption cases uncovered: A former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civilian employee faces up to five years in prison [...]