Ex-S. Korea Air Chief Held in Bribe Case

A former South Korean air force chief was arrested Saturday for allegedly taking $23,000 in bribes from five officers seeking promotion.

Prosecutors said Chung Yong Hu is charged with taking the promotion-related bribes while he served as the air force chief of staff from 1989 to 1990. Two navy commodores were arrested Saturday on charges of buying their promotions. No details on those two cases were immediately available.

The arrests are part of a reform drive by President Kim Young Sam, who took office in February as South Korea’s first civilian head of state in three decades.

On Thursday, five air force generals were arrested on charges of giving bribes for promotions. Earlier last week, a former navy chief, a marine corps commandant and five other navy officers were arrested on similar graft and bribery charges.

The government, meanwhile, said it is widening its corruption probe to include questionable arms dealings. Government inspectors Saturday scrutinized bank accounts of about 20 arms brokers for evidence of corruption in the military’s acquisition of tanks, missiles and planes.