The chairman of a local arms dealer was found guilty of embezzlement and bribery on Thursday but was acquitted of fraud and a string of other corruption allegations.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Lee Kyu-tae of Ilgwang Group to three years and four months in prison on charges of giving some 15 million won ($13,000) in bribes to government officials and embezzling over 10 billion won of company assets.

Still, Lee was found not guilty of allegations that he exaggerated the price of an electronic warfare training system and swindled the government out of over 96 million won when commissioning the deal.

The court said there is a lack of evidence to prove the allegations.

Corruption has been a nagging problem in South Korea's defense industry. President Park Geun-hye declared an all-out war against it when the nation's first indigenous salvage ship, the Tongyeong, failed to function during a major ferry disaster in 2014. (Yonhap)