Army's bulletproof vests not so bulletproof, audit reveals

Korean soldiers participating in a joint military exercise wth Americn soldiers in Pohang in March. [YONHAP]

A Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) investigation has found that the majority of the 49,000 bulletproof vests distributed to the army suffer from defects.

According to the BAI on Thursday, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) signed a contract with a defense company to purchase 56,280 bulletproof vests for 10.8 billion won (about $8 million) in December 2021.

However, the vest was later tampered with to pass testing.

The government audit agency said the Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT) vouched for the quality of the faulty vests despite knowing their flaws.

When testing a bulletproof vest, six shots are fired — one just below the neck, three shots in the center and one on each side.

The vest is disqualified if any of the shots penetrate or even leave a dent 44 millimeters deep or more.

However, the defense contractor added additional layers to the areas to be tested, allowing the product to pass.

The BAI claimed that the KRIT received designs of the additional layers from the company before testing and yet did not pass the information to DAPA's Defense Agency for Technology and Quality (DTaQ), which conducted the testing.

The company was green lit to start producing the vests in February last year and started delivering them to the military in April 2022.

Some 49,622 vests have been distributed to the military so far.

The BAI’s separate testing found that other areas of the vest had dents of 44 millimeter deep, increasingly the likelihood of fatal injuries to the wearer.

The vests also failed to deflect infrared light, lowering the soldiers’ camouflage ability.

The BAI has recommended that DAPA replace the vest that failed to meet performance standards and limit bids by the company in future defense contracts.

It also proposed penalties on two people at the KRIT who failed to properly conduct quality management of the vests.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]