Just like in the United States, defense companies often collude with military officers to win contracts and sometimes not in an ethical manner. What I found most interesting about this article is that the ROK developed liquid body armor that was bomb resistant which I have never heard of before:
Body armor and a protective panel that were penetrated by bullets, shown during a Board of Audit and Inspection in Seoul‘s Jongno district, announcing the findings of a review of the Ministry of National Defense, Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), and three other institutions for suspected improprieties in the acquisition of body armor and other military support supplies, Mar. 23. (Yonhap News)
Lobbying by a defense company resulted in it being granted general monopoly rights by the Ministry of National Defense on a body armor project worth up to 270 billion won (US$231 million) – even after the ministry had developed its own state-of-the-art body armor at a cost of 2.8 billion won (US$2.4 million).Samyang Chemical, parent group of Samyang Chemtec – which came under fire last year for its production of penetrable body armor – hired 29 reserve soldiers over six years to work as lobbyists for affiliates. Seven were found to be retired generals employed under false pretenses in defiance of ethics regulations against the employment of former senior officials. [Hankyoreh]
You can read much more about this scandal at the link and the long and sometimes unethical ties to the military Samyang Chemical has.
