Police have launched an investigation into allegations that Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek went absent without leave during his military service as a local defense corps soldier.
The Yongsan Police Station in Seoul, which is handling the case, plans to summon the complainant, Kim Young-su, director of the Korea Defense Rights Research Institute, for a full fact-finding inquiry.
Kim, a retired Navy lieutenant commander, filed a complaint with police on June 27 accusing Ahn of violating the Act on Testimony and Appraisal Before the National Assembly. Kim alleged that Ahn went AWOL for nearly eight months while serving as a local defense corps soldier with a company of the Army's 35th Infantry Division in Daesan-myeon, Gochang-gun, North Jeolla Province, beginning in November 1983.
In the complaint, Kim said Ahn's military service records at the Military Manpower Administration show an extended service period corresponding to the duration of the alleged absence, as well as a 30-day detention. Kim said Ahn's repeated testimony at his confirmation hearing that he "never went AWOL" constituted clear perjury.
When the AWOL allegations were first raised at his National Assembly confirmation hearing last July, Ahn denied them. He said his military records were "incorrectly entered" and described himself as "a victim of military administrative error."
With the allegations resurfacing a year later, opposition lawmakers are calling for the release of the relevant military service records.
Seong Il-jong, who chaired the National Assembly's National Defense Committee during the first half of the 22nd National Assembly, said in a statement Thursday that the desertion allegations against Ahn "have been raised continuously since the confirmation hearing and could be resolved cleanly by releasing the military service records." Seong said he had proposed during the hearing that at least the committee chair and floor managers from both parties be allowed to review the records, but that Ahn had refused even that.
Seong added that the defense minister "must be able to stand before the troops with a clear conscience," and called on President Lee Jae Myung, as commander in chief, to disclose whether Cheong Wa Dae's vetting process had uncovered the matter and to personally resolve it.
A National Assembly petition calling for Ahn's impeachment had gathered 305,169 signatures as of Thursday, 21 days after it was posted. Under National Assembly rules, petitions that receive more than 50,000 signatures within 30 days of submission are referred to the relevant standing committee for review.
arin@heraldcorp.com
