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Press Release
2015 Integrity Index of Korea increased to 7.89
- Date2015-12-09
- Hit3,308
ACRC announced the results of 2015 Integrity Assessment of public organizations
On December 9, the ACRC announced the results of the 2015 Integrity Assessment of 617 public organizations. The integrity score of public organizations is calculated by combining the survey results of citizens who had direct/indirect experience of the works of the target organizations and the score for the occurrences of corruption.
The Comprehensive Integrity Index is produced out of a 10-point-scale by adding up the scores from the external integrity, internal integrity and policy customer surveys, and deducting points for the occurrences of corruption and 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 more than 245,000 in total, including 167,000 public service users (external integrity assessment), 57,000 staff members of public organizations (internal integrity assessment), and 21,000 policy customers (policy customer evaluation) consisting of experts from academia, civil society, local residents and school parents.
Policy customer evaluation was conducted only for central administrative organizations, metropolitan/provincial governments, offices of education, and public service-related organizations of Type I and II (with more than 1,000 staff members).
Overall integrity level in the public sector
The comprehensive integrity score of all public organizations in 2015 was 7.89 out of 10, a 0.11-point increase from 7.78 of the previous year. The increase in the comprehensive integrity level resulted from increases in external, internal, and policy customer integrity levels, and a decrease in the occurrences of corruption compared to last year.
According to the survey results, external integrity level of public organizations recorded 8.02 points, a 0.07-point increase from the previous year; internal integrity score was 8.00 points, a 0.18-point increase; and policy customer integrity level was 7.08 points, a 0.22-point increase. The results show that the overall integrity level of performance and policies of public organizations has improved.
By type of target organizations, the comprehensive integrity level of public service-related organizations showed the highest score of 8.24 points, while metropolitan/provincial governments recorded the lowest score for the comprehensive integrity level as 7.22 points. This can be attributed to the fact that metropolitan/provincial governments are mandated to provide public services that are closely related with citizens' lives and need a large amount of budget, including the supervision and management of construction projects and permissions and approvals.
Among central administrative organizations, Statistics Korea (Type I) and Korea Agency for Saemangeum Development and Investment (Type II) had the highest level of integrity.
* Central administrative organizations with 2,000 or more employees are classified into Type I category, while those with less than 2,000 employees into Type II category.
In the local government category, Daejeon Metropolitan City received the highest integrity score among provincial and metropolitan governments; Sokcho-si of Gangwon-do, Haman-gun of Gyeongsangnam-do, and Jongno-gu of Seoul Metropolitan City for the respective categories of cities (si), counties (gun) and districts (gu); and the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province 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 National Health Insurance Service among Type I (more than 2,300 employees); Korea East-West Power among Type II (1,000 – 2,300 employees); Korea Institute for Animal Quality Evaluation among Type III (300 – 1,000 employees); Postal Savings & Insurance Development Institute among Type IV (150 – 300 employees) and Korea Forestry Promotion Institute among Type V (less than 150 employees).
* Public service-related organizations are classified into Types I – V (classified by the number of employees), research institutes, local public corporations and local industrial corporations.
External integrity level
Over the past year, the ratio of survey respondents with direct experience of corruption by offering money/entertainment/convenience to a public official or his/her spouse was 1.7%, similar to that of last year, while the ratio of indirect experience of corruption, that is corruption experienced by relatives or colleagues, was 0.8%, a decrease from 1.1% of last year.
There was a moderate decrease in the ratio of experience of offering money or valuable items, but the level of corruption perception slightly deteriorated compared to the previous year for such corrupt practices as the unfair performance of duties based on personal connections or relationships and the undue exercise of influence. This seems to have resulted from the increase of public expectations for the fair performance of duties by public officials. Meanwhile, the public perception on the transparency and accountability of public organizations has improved from a year earlier.
This year's assessment was conducted for 2,514 work areas in a total of 617 organizations. The survey results show that the external integrity levels are relatively low for work areas for which officials in charge have high level of discretion or whose budget and business scale is enormous.
Corruption-prone areas by type of organizations include investigation/inspection for central administrative organizations, construction management/supervision for metropolitan/provincial governments, and permission/approval for municipal governments and public service-related organizations.
Internal integrity level
A close look at the survey responses of employees of direct experience of corruption shows that the ratio of direct experience of corruption has decreased compared to the previous year. The rate of offering money/entertainment/convenience in relation to personnel management decreased from 0.4% to 0.3%, the rate of experience of illegal/undue execution of budget from 7.7% to 4.8%, and the rate of experience of improper order by superiors from 6.8% to 6.2%.
Perceptions on work areas including personnel management and budget execution, organizational culture and corruption prevention systems have all improved. Therefore, it can be said that the integrity level of public organizations assessed by public officials themselves has enhanced 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 since 2012. This year, the number of corruption cases reflected in the assessment result is 579 cases from 198 organizations in total, a decrease from last year.
By type of organizations where corruption cases occurred, administrative agencies (central government agencies, local governments, and offices of education) recorded 484 cases from 137 organizations (553 cases from 161 organizations in 2014), and public service-related organizations had 95 cases from 61 organizations (128 cases from 79 organizations in 2014).
Follow-up action
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 implementing corruption prevention policies and initiatives focusing on their corruption-prone areas.
At the same time, the Commission will spread the best practices of the organizations with high integrity scores in order to raise the level of integrity in the public sector as a whole.
On December 9, the ACRC announced the results of the 2015 Integrity Assessment of 617 public organizations. The integrity score of public organizations is calculated by combining the survey results of citizens who had direct/indirect experience of the works of the target organizations and the score for the occurrences of corruption.
The Comprehensive Integrity Index is produced out of a 10-point-scale by adding up the scores from the external integrity, internal integrity and policy customer surveys, and deducting points for the occurrences of corruption and 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 more than 245,000 in total, including 167,000 public service users (external integrity assessment), 57,000 staff members of public organizations (internal integrity assessment), and 21,000 policy customers (policy customer evaluation) consisting of experts from academia, civil society, local residents and school parents.
Policy customer evaluation was conducted only for central administrative organizations, metropolitan/provincial governments, offices of education, and public service-related organizations of Type I and II (with more than 1,000 staff members).
Overall integrity level in the public sector
The comprehensive integrity score of all public organizations in 2015 was 7.89 out of 10, a 0.11-point increase from 7.78 of the previous year. The increase in the comprehensive integrity level resulted from increases in external, internal, and policy customer integrity levels, and a decrease in the occurrences of corruption compared to last year.
According to the survey results, external integrity level of public organizations recorded 8.02 points, a 0.07-point increase from the previous year; internal integrity score was 8.00 points, a 0.18-point increase; and policy customer integrity level was 7.08 points, a 0.22-point increase. The results show that the overall integrity level of performance and policies of public organizations has improved.
By type of target organizations, the comprehensive integrity level of public service-related organizations showed the highest score of 8.24 points, while metropolitan/provincial governments recorded the lowest score for the comprehensive integrity level as 7.22 points. This can be attributed to the fact that metropolitan/provincial governments are mandated to provide public services that are closely related with citizens' lives and need a large amount of budget, including the supervision and management of construction projects and permissions and approvals.
Among central administrative organizations, Statistics Korea (Type I) and Korea Agency for Saemangeum Development and Investment (Type II) had the highest level of integrity.
* Central administrative organizations with 2,000 or more employees are classified into Type I category, while those with less than 2,000 employees into Type II category.
In the local government category, Daejeon Metropolitan City received the highest integrity score among provincial and metropolitan governments; Sokcho-si of Gangwon-do, Haman-gun of Gyeongsangnam-do, and Jongno-gu of Seoul Metropolitan City for the respective categories of cities (si), counties (gun) and districts (gu); and the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province 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 National Health Insurance Service among Type I (more than 2,300 employees); Korea East-West Power among Type II (1,000 – 2,300 employees); Korea Institute for Animal Quality Evaluation among Type III (300 – 1,000 employees); Postal Savings & Insurance Development Institute among Type IV (150 – 300 employees) and Korea Forestry Promotion Institute among Type V (less than 150 employees).
* Public service-related organizations are classified into Types I – V (classified by the number of employees), research institutes, local public corporations and local industrial corporations.
External integrity level
Over the past year, the ratio of survey respondents with direct experience of corruption by offering money/entertainment/convenience to a public official or his/her spouse was 1.7%, similar to that of last year, while the ratio of indirect experience of corruption, that is corruption experienced by relatives or colleagues, was 0.8%, a decrease from 1.1% of last year.
There was a moderate decrease in the ratio of experience of offering money or valuable items, but the level of corruption perception slightly deteriorated compared to the previous year for such corrupt practices as the unfair performance of duties based on personal connections or relationships and the undue exercise of influence. This seems to have resulted from the increase of public expectations for the fair performance of duties by public officials. Meanwhile, the public perception on the transparency and accountability of public organizations has improved from a year earlier.
This year's assessment was conducted for 2,514 work areas in a total of 617 organizations. The survey results show that the external integrity levels are relatively low for work areas for which officials in charge have high level of discretion or whose budget and business scale is enormous.
Corruption-prone areas by type of organizations include investigation/inspection for central administrative organizations, construction management/supervision for metropolitan/provincial governments, and permission/approval for municipal governments and public service-related organizations.
Internal integrity level
A close look at the survey responses of employees of direct experience of corruption shows that the ratio of direct experience of corruption has decreased compared to the previous year. The rate of offering money/entertainment/convenience in relation to personnel management decreased from 0.4% to 0.3%, the rate of experience of illegal/undue execution of budget from 7.7% to 4.8%, and the rate of experience of improper order by superiors from 6.8% to 6.2%.
Perceptions on work areas including personnel management and budget execution, organizational culture and corruption prevention systems have all improved. Therefore, it can be said that the integrity level of public organizations assessed by public officials themselves has enhanced 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 since 2012. This year, the number of corruption cases reflected in the assessment result is 579 cases from 198 organizations in total, a decrease from last year.
By type of organizations where corruption cases occurred, administrative agencies (central government agencies, local governments, and offices of education) recorded 484 cases from 137 organizations (553 cases from 161 organizations in 2014), and public service-related organizations had 95 cases from 61 organizations (128 cases from 79 organizations in 2014).
Follow-up action
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 implementing corruption prevention policies and initiatives focusing on their corruption-prone areas.
At the same time, the Commission will spread the best practices of the organizations with high integrity scores in order to raise the level of integrity in the public sector as a whole.
