Korean prosecutors on Tuesday indicted a retired Army brigadier general on charges of taking kickbacks from a defense contractor for peddling influence in a 2014 military procurement deal.

The investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said that they indicted and arrested the former official of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), surnamed Hong, for pocketing 54 million won ($45,477) from a local defense firm in 2014.

Hong is alleged to have used his influence to help the firm get a government contract for bullet-proof plates used in the production of small armored helicopters. The firm won the contract worth 50 billion won.

Hong formerly served as chief of the DAPA division in charge of defense contracts and the development of the country's indigenous military helicopters.

Prosecutors also suspect that Hong received 34 million won from a different defense firm for exerting his influence in another defense deal from April 2014 to February this year.

He also faces the charge of forcing a defense firm to give up its contract with the government to produce bulletproof helmets, and then allowing another firm to pick up the contract in September 2011, investigators said. The contract was worth some 3.6 billion won. (Yonhap)