Deputy defense minister resigns
ROC Central News Agency
2008-05-06 20:37:39
Taipei, May 6 (CNA) Deputy Defense Minister Ko Chen-heng has resigned over his implication in a high-profile diplomatic scandal, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Tuesday in a press statement.
Ko, who is currently on leave following his father's death, tendered his resignation after prosecutors searched his office at the MND headquarters earlier in the day for evidence of his suspected involvement in the scandal in which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was defrauded of US$29.8 million while seeking to forge diplomatic ties with Papua New Guinea in 2006. "Defense Minister Tsai Ming-shian has approved Ko's resignation," the MND statement said, adding that the minister also reaffirmed his belief in Ko's integrity and innocence in the case.
Insisting that he was not involved in the fraud case, Ko said in his resignation letter that he decided to resign mainly because the prosecutors' search of his office had impaired the ministry's image, according to the MND statement.
Ko followed the footsteps of Vice Premier Chiou I-jen and Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang, two other senior officials implicated in the scandal who resigned earlier in the day.
The unprecedented scandal, which has seriously damaged Taiwan's international image and embarrassed outgoing President Chen Shui-bian, came to light less than three weeks before the Democratic Progressive Party hands over the reins of power to the main opposition Kuomintang.
(By Sofia Wu)
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