South Korea suspends contractors

SEOUL, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- South Korea is barring nearly two dozen defense contractors from performing government work because of ethical violations.

The Korea Times said the ban was imposed by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, which found the 20 companies had engaged in bribery, the rigging of contract bids and had violated previous contract conditions.

"The 20 defense firms will not be allowed to participate in defense contract bidding from Tuesday for three to 24 months," DAPA spokesman Son Hyeong-yeong was quoted as saying.

"The majority of them are very small defense suppliers. They will likely struggle to keep their business afloat with even the small six-month suspension penalty."

Three of South Korea largest defense contractors, together with 12 smaller ones, were similarly suspended from contract bidding last month.

"DAPA's decisions in late 2011 and this month will help ethical management take root and raise awareness that corrupt defense contractors cannot survive in the industry," Son said.