hankyoreh

By Lee Seung-jun, staff reporter

About 1.2 billion won (US$1.13 million) that was donated to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (directed by Park Sung-choon) for the purpose of boosting the morale of service members, riot police, policemen and firemen completing their mandatory military service was used for US Forces in Korea, a report indicates.

According to a document detailing how donations to the troops were used from 2010 to Sept. 2013 that was released on Jan. 20 by Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Gwang-jin, a member of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, the Ministry spent 1.28 billion won over the past four years on holding morale events and buying souvenirs for US soldiers.

Each year, the Ministry used 200 million won of this money purchasing picture frames to give to US soldiers as souvenirs. In addition to the 30,000 frames that were bought, the Ministry also used the money to pay for dinners and visits to cultural and industrial facilities for exemplary soldiers in the US force in Korea, totaling 87.01 million won in 2010, 84 million won in 2011, 111.13 million won in 2012, and 110.12 million won in 2013.

In one example, the report shows that the Ministry spent twice as much on events for 120-140 exemplary US soldiers as it did on similar events for South Korean soldiers. In fact, in 2012, 46.53 million won of the donations was spent on events for South Korean soldiers, while 111.13 million won went to events for the US army.

The military donations are composed of money that is garnished from the wages of public servants in the central and local government and staff at public companies and government-affiliated agencies (about 0.4-0.5% each year). The money is supposed to be used to raise the spirits of those who are employed in the defense of the country, including soldiers in the South Korean army, conscripted police offers and firefighters, and US forces in Korea, according to the relevant regulations.

In addition, the Ministry spent 9.22 billion won of the 23.74 billion won it received in donations over the past four years on purchasing various necessities for soldiers, which are supposed to be covered by the national budget.

“It is problematic that donations that are collected for South Korean service members are being used for the US armed forces. If US soldiers need souvenirs, that can be covered by the budget of the Ministry of National Defense,” Kim said. “The donations are also being used for purchasing welfare supplies. This is something that the state should be responsible for.”

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