If a soldier sold spare parts then that's theft, plain and simple. But calling this arms smuggling is a real stretch.

This "weapons smuggling ring" actually sold a lot of not-particularly-dangerous crap.

None of these items are terribly hard to come by nor, unlike juicy bars or black marketing, do they require institutionalized corruption to obtain.

I love scrounging in a junk shop as much as anyone… and around every post/base, there are open sales of much of this… including more sensitive stuff if they trust you or you happen to see them hide it when you walk in.

I'm guessing this guy just went around to these shop with a list of what he could sell easily and said what he would pay for it… and ask them to set aside anything interesting or unusual so he could have first crack at it.

These shops are mostly supplied by on-base Koreans who lift anything that isn't tied down that might be worth a few won to somebody outside the main gate… as it has been for the last 60 years. A few things (like Gore-tex jackets) are semi-institutionally supplied by the Supply Mafia (which IS a major USFK problem they refuse to effectively take care of).

Let's look…

"M-16 rifle rounds, M-60 machine-gun barrels, bayonets, smoke shells, grenades, bulletproof helmets and vests, mine detectors, night-vision goggles and lenses, and parts needed to make firearms"

Stray rounds and worn-out barrels slip through the cracks… as do bayonets and, perhaps, "smoke shells". Grenades are a different story… and, as there wasn't particular emphasis places upon such a serious item, I would guess they are inert. Helmets and vests are all over the place on the local economy… not sure about mine detectors. NVGs are interesting as they are pretty highly accounted for.

"Parts needed to make firearms" doesn't say much… but it doesn't mean much either. Everything short of a rifled barrel can be made with hand tools… ergo, a manhole cover is just a bolt waiting to be cut, filed and drilled.

In the end, more clarity is important to gauge the importance of this story.

…"about 1,000 weapons and pieces of ammunition" is not so impressive if it includes a rusty M1 carbine bayonet and 998 used blanks from the last excercise.

I have been following USFK corruption longer than anyone else on the Internet. You might want to do a little research on the site before making misinformed comments.

White males are a minority in the quartermasters. You must have some inside info to narrow it down to one sex and race.

Obviously, there were some corrupt, dare I say, white male army people involved…and definitely not just the low-ranking type…