ID :
77060
Wed, 08/26/2009 - 17:02
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/77060
The shortlink copeid
Defense chief slaps down deputy in row over budget
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- In a country where obedience is the rule and the military inculcates it into its members, a defense minister has sparked a brouhaha by protesting to his commander-in-chief over a man the president handpicked as his ministerial deputy.
According to military sources, South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee
recently sent a letter to President Lee Myung-bak, appealing for his
administration not to accept the vice minister's proposal for a reduced 2010
defense budget plan.
Citing the need to cope with North Korea's increasing nuclear and missile
threats, the defense ministry said in July that it hoped to receive 30.8 trillion
won (US$24 billion) next year -- a 7.9 percent annual increase.
If approved, the figure would mark the first time that the defense funding has
topped the 30-trillion-won mark since the foundation of the country, which shares
a Cold War frontier with North Korea.
The proposal hit a snag when, according to the sources, Vice Defense Minister
Chang Soo-man told the government that the rate of increase be adjusted down to
3.8 percent, in a move his boss at the ministry did not know of.
Chang is a career government financier who gained favor with the president by
helping him come up with his highly publicized "747" campaign pledge -- 7 percent
annual economic growth, per capita income of $40,000 and becoming the world's
seventh-largest economy.
Following his appointment early this year, Chang put out a series of comments
that suggested he was angling to slim down the Ministry of National Defense,
whipping up anxiety in a government branch that enjoyed a rapid-fire rise in
funding amid tension with North Korea.
The anxiety turned into a skirmish when he bypassed his boss to dish out what the
outspoken defense head called "a purely personal opinion" on the budget increase.
"The tail is wagging the dog," Lee said in his letter to the presidential Cheong
Wa Dae office, according to the sources.
"Lee knows what comes out of Chang's head often comes out of the president's," a
source said. "He is making a martyr of himself for the ministry."
Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae confirmed that Chang bypassed Lee and proposed the
cut.
"He appears to have relayed his personal opinion. Defense Minister Lee has
expressed his regret," he said.
SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- In a country where obedience is the rule and the military inculcates it into its members, a defense minister has sparked a brouhaha by protesting to his commander-in-chief over a man the president handpicked as his ministerial deputy.
According to military sources, South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee
recently sent a letter to President Lee Myung-bak, appealing for his
administration not to accept the vice minister's proposal for a reduced 2010
defense budget plan.
Citing the need to cope with North Korea's increasing nuclear and missile
threats, the defense ministry said in July that it hoped to receive 30.8 trillion
won (US$24 billion) next year -- a 7.9 percent annual increase.
If approved, the figure would mark the first time that the defense funding has
topped the 30-trillion-won mark since the foundation of the country, which shares
a Cold War frontier with North Korea.
The proposal hit a snag when, according to the sources, Vice Defense Minister
Chang Soo-man told the government that the rate of increase be adjusted down to
3.8 percent, in a move his boss at the ministry did not know of.
Chang is a career government financier who gained favor with the president by
helping him come up with his highly publicized "747" campaign pledge -- 7 percent
annual economic growth, per capita income of $40,000 and becoming the world's
seventh-largest economy.
Following his appointment early this year, Chang put out a series of comments
that suggested he was angling to slim down the Ministry of National Defense,
whipping up anxiety in a government branch that enjoyed a rapid-fire rise in
funding amid tension with North Korea.
The anxiety turned into a skirmish when he bypassed his boss to dish out what the
outspoken defense head called "a purely personal opinion" on the budget increase.
"The tail is wagging the dog," Lee said in his letter to the presidential Cheong
Wa Dae office, according to the sources.
"Lee knows what comes out of Chang's head often comes out of the president's," a
source said. "He is making a martyr of himself for the ministry."
Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae confirmed that Chang bypassed Lee and proposed the
cut.
"He appears to have relayed his personal opinion. Defense Minister Lee has
expressed his regret," he said.
