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| An online petition at Cheong Wa Dae website alleges a serviceman in an Air Force unit in Seoul has received preferential treatment due to his father's influence. Captured from Cheong Wa Dae website |
By Kim Rahn
The Air Force has launched an inspection into allegations that a conscripted serviceman has been enjoying privileges thanks to his wealth and the influence of his father.
The investigation followed a petition on Cheong Wa Dae's website Thursday, posted by a man who identified himself as a noncommissioned officer at an air unit in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul.
According to the petition, the conscript has received preferential treatment and with ranking officials as enablers. The petitioner said the serviceman is the son of a large conglomerate owner, but a local daily reported later identified him as the son of a vice chairman of the NICE Group, a credit information service provider.
The serviceman allegedly has an assistant employed by his family take his dirty laundry for him and bring it back after being washed every Saturday morning. Some noncommissioned officers are forced to do the "delivery" of the laundry between the serviceman and his assistant, according to testimony from the petitioner's colleagues.
He is also alleged to have a room of the barracks for his own use ― usually shared by six to eight people ― due to a "feud" with other servicemen, and the unit officials allegedly drew up a fake list of servicemen using the room to conceal the non-standard allocation.
Some other testimony alleged the serviceman often goes out of the barracks under the excuse of medical treatment at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital, but it seems he actually has dinner with his family while off base.
The petitioner also said the process via which the serviceman was assigned to the current post was unusual, raising suspicions that his father may have helped him secure the post in the unit that is located in Seoul.
"All I have about the allegations is testimony from other servicemen, so I urge the authorities to conduct an investigation," the petitioner wrote.
Upon receiving the petition, the Air Force said Friday its headquarters launched an investigation into the allegations. "We are conducting the investigation to check if the allegations are true," it said in a statement.
