March 21, 200719 yr From DefenseNews Posted 03/21/07 08:40 South Korean Air Force Chief Resigns REUTERS, SEOUL, South Korea South Korea’s air force commander resigned March 21, becoming the latest leader in the country brought down in part by a golfing scandal. President Roh Moo-hyun accepted the resignation of Air Force Chief of Staff Kim Seong-il, a presidential spokesman said. In an abrupt announcement, Kim said he was offering to resign to take responsibility for air crashes that occurred during his tenure, an Air Force spokesman said. But he was also facing intense criticism for reportedly playing golf while the nation mourned the death of the first South Korean soldier killed in an overseas assignment in decades. Kim played golf on March 1 during a military mourning period for the soldier who was killed in a bomb attack outside a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, local media reported. In March 2006, then-South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan left office after being criticized for playing golf while a railway strike was causing transport chaos. [i have always said that a golf course was a waste of a perfectly good shooting range. ]
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