The Defense Ministry is seeking to take over some of the core functions of the state military acquisition agency, sparking concerns that the move could undermine efforts to enhance transparency and efficiency in carrying out defense projects.

The ministry said Wednesday that the Cabinet passed a revision bill on delegating authority to test and evaluate military development projects to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The bill also delegates the authority to set five-year defense acquisition plans to the ministry.

As the political parties are now engrossed in their presidential campaigns, passing the bill at the legislature would not be easy for the time being, observers said.

A similar bill was passed through the Cabinet and submitted to the National Assembly last year. But it was scrapped as the bill gathered dust with little political attention.

Critics have argued that the revision could undermine the purpose of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

The DAPA was established in 2006 under the former Roh Moo-hyun administration in order to enhance efficiency and stamp out irregularities in implementing military projects.

The agency was also expected to play a role for the balanced development of the three armed services.

Critics had argued that the ministry, whose key decision-making positions were dominated by Army generals, needed a balanced approach in distributing resources among the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Some military observers argue that the government appears to be taking steps to abolish the DAPA.

“Should the agency be abolished, it would be more difficult to block corruption in military defense deals,” one observer told media.

Others, however, welcomed the move.

“As the military raises the need for certain projects and the agency deals with the testing and budgetary issues, there had been some delays in the operational deployment of certain weapons systems.”

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)