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2014 Integrity Index of Korea scores 7.78, a slight decrease from last year
- Date2015-01-08
- Hit2,170
December 9, 2014
Statistics Korea, Gyeonggi-do, and Sejong City Office of Education recorded the highest levels of integrity
On December 9, the ACRC announced the results of the 2014 Integrity Assessment of 640 public organizations. Conducted by the ACRC every year, the assessment measures the integrity levels of public organizations from the results of the survey of citizens, public officials and other stakeholders from which points are deducted for the occurrences of corruption or actions lowering the reliability of the survey results.
The survey this year was conducted for 4 months from August to November and was administered to 253,819 people in total, including 176,081 public service users (external integrity level), 56,701 staff members of public organizations (internal integrity level), and 21,037 policy customers consisting of experts from academia, civil society, local residents, and school parents.
Overall integrity level
The comprehensive integrity level of all public organizations in 2014 was 7.78 out of 10, a 0.08 point decrease from 7.86 of the previous year. The decrease in the comprehensive integrity level resulted from decreases in external, internal, and policy customer integrity levels, and an increase in the occurrence of corruption compared to last year.
*Time series interrupted in 2008 and 2012 due to modification of the model
According to the survey results, the evaluations on the public service users' perception of corruption such as "influence peddling/solicitation" (8.95 points --> 9.07 points), transparency such as "openness in work standards and procedures" (8.37 points --> 8.44 points), and accountability such as "efforts to accomplish duties" (8.23 points --> 8.32 points) have improved, compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the evaluations on the experience of corruption such as "offering money, entertainment, and convenience" (0.7% --> 1.7%), "illegal/undue budget execution" (6.2% --> 7.7%), and "fairness in work order" (6.6% --> 6.8%), have exacerbated. Among central administrative organizations, Statistics Korea was the organization with the highest level of integrity among Type I organizations (more than 2,000 employees), and Korea Agency for Saemangeum Development and Investment had the highest level of integrity among Type II organizations (less than 2,000 employees).
In the local government category, Gyeonggi-do received the highest integrity score among provincial and metropolitan governments; Osan-si of Gyeonggi-do, Inje-gun of Gangwon-do, and Gangdong-gu of Seoul City for the respective categories of cities (si), counties (gun) and districts (gu); and the Sejong City Office of Education among the offices of education.
In the case of public service-related organizations, the highest levels of integrity were exhibited respectively by KEPCO KPS among Type I (more than 2,300 employees); Korea Southern Power among Type II (1,000 - 2,300 employees); Korea Appraisal Board among Type III (300 - 1000 employees); Korea Investment Corporation among Type IV (150 - 300 employees); Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority among Type V (less than 150 employees); Gyeonggi Tourism Organization among local public corporations; Incheon Metropolitan City Seo-gu Facilities Management Corporation among local industrial corporations; and the Korea Development Institute among research institutes.
In particular, it was revealed that the Sewol Ferry incident affected the integrity levels this year, with the related organizations such as Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and Korea Shipping Association showing very low scores.
Experience of corruption
(Public service users' response) Over the past year, the ratio of public service users with experience of offering money/entertainment/convenience to a public organization was 1.7%, a slight increase from last year (0.7%). This increase seems to have resulted from the change in the survey questionnaire this year, for example addition of new survey questions about excessive honorarium.
By type of organizations, provincial and metropolitan governments recorded the highest rates of direct (3.4%) and indirect (1.8%) experience in corruption.
(Internal staff's response) According to the survey of the internal members of public organizations, there was a decrease from the previous year in the rate of "offering money/entertainment/ convenience" (0.5% --> 0.4%), while the rates increased in "illegal/undue budget execution" (6.2%-->7.7%) and in "improper work order" (6.6% --> 6.8%).
By type of organizations, local (city/country/district) governments recorded the highest rates in direct experience (0.6%) and indirect experience (3.8%) in "offering money/entertainment/ convenience" and in "illegal/undue budget execution" (8.6%), while the offices of education exhibited the highest experience rate in "improper work order" (8.7%).
(Policy customers' response) Among the policy customers surveyed, 3.3% replied that they or their acquaintances had given money, entertainment, or conveniences to officials of public organizations, showing a slight increase from 3.2% of last year.
By type of organizations, offices of education recorded the highest rates (6.0%), followed by provincial and metropolitan governments and public service-related organizations (3.4%), and central government agencies (2.5%).
Corruption-prone areas
Central government agencies and public service-related organizations showed the lowest integrity levels in "investigation" duties such as investigation and on-site inspection. The survey also revealed that provincial and metropolitan governments are most prone to corruption in "construction management and supervision," while "permission/approval" was the most corruption-prone area among local (city/country/district) governments and "management of sports clubs" among offices of education.
With an overall increase in the number of respondents who experienced corruption, the evaluations of internal staff and policy customers on "effectiveness in protecting reporters of corruption" and "appropriateness in punishment and disciplinary measures" recorded lower scores compared to last year.
Moreover, while the levels of corruption perceived by public service users improved, the levels of corruption perceived by internal staff on "handling of duties according to personal relationship" and "mediation and undue solicitation" showed decreases from last year.
Deduction for corruption cases
The ACRC has enhanced the validity of the Integrity Assessment by calculating the occurrences of corruption and deducting points from the survey results.
(Administrative agencies) In the case of administrative agencies, an average of 0.2 points and maximum 0.7 points were deducted out of 10 on the 553 corruption cases in 161 organizations.
By type of corruption, "receiving money and valuables" (47.9%, 265 cases) was the most common type of corruption, followed by "embezzlement and misuse of public funds" (18.8%, 104 cases), "receiving entertainment" (16.3%, 90 cases), "forgery and falsification of s" (7.2%, 40 cases), and "abuse of authority" (3.6%, 20 cases).
(Public service-related organizations) In the case of public service-related organizations, an average of 0.3 points and maximum 0.7 points were deducted out of 10 on a total of 128 corruption cases in 79 organizations.
By type of corruption, "receiving money and valuables" (39.8%, 51 cases) recorded the highest occurrence, followed by "embezzlement of public funds" (18.8%, 24 cases) and "abuse of authority related to employment" (10.2%).
Actions lowering the reliability of survey results
To maintain a high level of reliability in the Integrity Assessment, the ACRC deducted points from the survey results on actions such as inducing favorable answers and manipulating the list of respondents.
This year, points were deducted for the actions to manipulate the respondents list in 27 organizations as well as the organized attempts to induce favorable answers taken by 423 organizations including Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and Geochang-gun in Gyeongsangnam-do.
Future direction
Based on the results of this year's Integrity Assessment, the ACRC will encourage the public organizations with low levels of integrity to make voluntary efforts to reduce corruption by focusing on their corruption-prone areas. At the same time, it will spread the best practices of the organizations with high integrity scores in order to raise the levels of integrity in the public sector as a whole.
Moreover, the Commission will continue to collect the opinions and problems raised by public organizations through meetings and workshops to reflect them in the Integrity Assessment.
Statistics Korea, Gyeonggi-do, and Sejong City Office of Education recorded the highest levels of integrity
On December 9, the ACRC announced the results of the 2014 Integrity Assessment of 640 public organizations. Conducted by the ACRC every year, the assessment measures the integrity levels of public organizations from the results of the survey of citizens, public officials and other stakeholders from which points are deducted for the occurrences of corruption or actions lowering the reliability of the survey results.
The survey this year was conducted for 4 months from August to November and was administered to 253,819 people in total, including 176,081 public service users (external integrity level), 56,701 staff members of public organizations (internal integrity level), and 21,037 policy customers consisting of experts from academia, civil society, local residents, and school parents.
Overall integrity level
The comprehensive integrity level of all public organizations in 2014 was 7.78 out of 10, a 0.08 point decrease from 7.86 of the previous year. The decrease in the comprehensive integrity level resulted from decreases in external, internal, and policy customer integrity levels, and an increase in the occurrence of corruption compared to last year.
*Time series interrupted in 2008 and 2012 due to modification of the model
According to the survey results, the evaluations on the public service users' perception of corruption such as "influence peddling/solicitation" (8.95 points --> 9.07 points), transparency such as "openness in work standards and procedures" (8.37 points --> 8.44 points), and accountability such as "efforts to accomplish duties" (8.23 points --> 8.32 points) have improved, compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the evaluations on the experience of corruption such as "offering money, entertainment, and convenience" (0.7% --> 1.7%), "illegal/undue budget execution" (6.2% --> 7.7%), and "fairness in work order" (6.6% --> 6.8%), have exacerbated. Among central administrative organizations, Statistics Korea was the organization with the highest level of integrity among Type I organizations (more than 2,000 employees), and Korea Agency for Saemangeum Development and Investment had the highest level of integrity among Type II organizations (less than 2,000 employees).
In the local government category, Gyeonggi-do received the highest integrity score among provincial and metropolitan governments; Osan-si of Gyeonggi-do, Inje-gun of Gangwon-do, and Gangdong-gu of Seoul City for the respective categories of cities (si), counties (gun) and districts (gu); and the Sejong City Office of Education among the offices of education.
In the case of public service-related organizations, the highest levels of integrity were exhibited respectively by KEPCO KPS among Type I (more than 2,300 employees); Korea Southern Power among Type II (1,000 - 2,300 employees); Korea Appraisal Board among Type III (300 - 1000 employees); Korea Investment Corporation among Type IV (150 - 300 employees); Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority among Type V (less than 150 employees); Gyeonggi Tourism Organization among local public corporations; Incheon Metropolitan City Seo-gu Facilities Management Corporation among local industrial corporations; and the Korea Development Institute among research institutes.
In particular, it was revealed that the Sewol Ferry incident affected the integrity levels this year, with the related organizations such as Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and Korea Shipping Association showing very low scores.
Experience of corruption
(Public service users' response) Over the past year, the ratio of public service users with experience of offering money/entertainment/convenience to a public organization was 1.7%, a slight increase from last year (0.7%). This increase seems to have resulted from the change in the survey questionnaire this year, for example addition of new survey questions about excessive honorarium.
By type of organizations, provincial and metropolitan governments recorded the highest rates of direct (3.4%) and indirect (1.8%) experience in corruption.
(Internal staff's response) According to the survey of the internal members of public organizations, there was a decrease from the previous year in the rate of "offering money/entertainment/ convenience" (0.5% --> 0.4%), while the rates increased in "illegal/undue budget execution" (6.2%-->7.7%) and in "improper work order" (6.6% --> 6.8%).
By type of organizations, local (city/country/district) governments recorded the highest rates in direct experience (0.6%) and indirect experience (3.8%) in "offering money/entertainment/ convenience" and in "illegal/undue budget execution" (8.6%), while the offices of education exhibited the highest experience rate in "improper work order" (8.7%).
(Policy customers' response) Among the policy customers surveyed, 3.3% replied that they or their acquaintances had given money, entertainment, or conveniences to officials of public organizations, showing a slight increase from 3.2% of last year.
By type of organizations, offices of education recorded the highest rates (6.0%), followed by provincial and metropolitan governments and public service-related organizations (3.4%), and central government agencies (2.5%).
Corruption-prone areas
Central government agencies and public service-related organizations showed the lowest integrity levels in "investigation" duties such as investigation and on-site inspection. The survey also revealed that provincial and metropolitan governments are most prone to corruption in "construction management and supervision," while "permission/approval" was the most corruption-prone area among local (city/country/district) governments and "management of sports clubs" among offices of education.
With an overall increase in the number of respondents who experienced corruption, the evaluations of internal staff and policy customers on "effectiveness in protecting reporters of corruption" and "appropriateness in punishment and disciplinary measures" recorded lower scores compared to last year.
Moreover, while the levels of corruption perceived by public service users improved, the levels of corruption perceived by internal staff on "handling of duties according to personal relationship" and "mediation and undue solicitation" showed decreases from last year.
Deduction for corruption cases
The ACRC has enhanced the validity of the Integrity Assessment by calculating the occurrences of corruption and deducting points from the survey results.
(Administrative agencies) In the case of administrative agencies, an average of 0.2 points and maximum 0.7 points were deducted out of 10 on the 553 corruption cases in 161 organizations.
By type of corruption, "receiving money and valuables" (47.9%, 265 cases) was the most common type of corruption, followed by "embezzlement and misuse of public funds" (18.8%, 104 cases), "receiving entertainment" (16.3%, 90 cases), "forgery and falsification of s" (7.2%, 40 cases), and "abuse of authority" (3.6%, 20 cases).
(Public service-related organizations) In the case of public service-related organizations, an average of 0.3 points and maximum 0.7 points were deducted out of 10 on a total of 128 corruption cases in 79 organizations.
By type of corruption, "receiving money and valuables" (39.8%, 51 cases) recorded the highest occurrence, followed by "embezzlement of public funds" (18.8%, 24 cases) and "abuse of authority related to employment" (10.2%).
Actions lowering the reliability of survey results
To maintain a high level of reliability in the Integrity Assessment, the ACRC deducted points from the survey results on actions such as inducing favorable answers and manipulating the list of respondents.
This year, points were deducted for the actions to manipulate the respondents list in 27 organizations as well as the organized attempts to induce favorable answers taken by 423 organizations including Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and Geochang-gun in Gyeongsangnam-do.
Future direction
Based on the results of this year's Integrity Assessment, the ACRC will encourage the public organizations with low levels of integrity to make voluntary efforts to reduce corruption by focusing on their corruption-prone areas. At the same time, it will spread the best practices of the organizations with high integrity scores in order to raise the levels of integrity in the public sector as a whole.
Moreover, the Commission will continue to collect the opinions and problems raised by public organizations through meetings and workshops to reflect them in the Integrity Assessment.
