On February 27, the ACRC, along with 300 participants including awardees, celebrated the 5th Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Day at the Government Sejong Convention Center.

The date was significant as it was on a February 27 during the Joseon Dynasty that King Taejong commanded to hang Sinmungo the large drum on a gate tower of the royal palace, so that people could beat it to speak out their complaints. In 2012, the ACRC declared the day to be “Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Day” to commemorate the historical day and to clarify its commitment to protecting the rights and interests of people. The ACRC began holding an annual commemoration ceremony from 2013, and this year marks the fifth anniversary.

This year, 44 government prizes and 68 ACRC Chairperson prizes, including one order of merit and two medals of honor, were awarded to 12 organizations and 97 persons of merit for their contributions toward improving people’s rights and spreading a culture of anti-corruption and integrity.

Mr. Song Jun-ho, a standing representative of the Hungsadan Transparency Movement, who received the pomegranate order of civil merit in the anti-corruption category, was noteworthy. Mr. Song has devoted himself to civil movement for anti-corruption since 1999. Recently, he has actively participated in many discussions, written articles, and appeared in various media, contributing significantly to the enactment and enforcement of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

A presidential citation award was given to an individual known as “A,” who reported the illegal use of a government contribution provided to a company tasked with conducting R&D for a national policy project. The report led to the national asset recovery of KRW 2 billion.

In the improvement of people’s rights category, Mr. Baek Maeng-ki, Director General of Gyeonggi Province, received the service merit medal. Mr.Baek, while serving as an audit and inspection official of Gyeonggi Province, made a number of improvements which contributed to the prevention and resolution of civil petitions, including changes to both the pre-consulting audit system and the on-site resolution squad for corporations.

Ms. Lee So-ra, Director of the Korea Communications Commission, was another service merit medal awardee. for her contribution toward improving the civil complaint service. She contributed in developing and implementing measures to increase petitioner satisfactory level, and resolving issues of complaint handling periods. Such efforts helped to raise the commission’s assessment grade.

In the administrative appeal category, Police Lieutenant Ms. Park Eun-kyung of Daejeon Police Agency was awarded a prime minister’s citation for and fair treatment of administrative appeals related to driver’s licenses and the promotion of the administrative appeal system through her contributions to media.

In his commemorative remarks, Chairperson Sung Yung-hoon commented, “The government, society, and people must work together to improve people’s rights and interests. The ACRC is committed to actively communicating with the socially disadvantaged people on-site, and to ly responding to the people’s voices to improve the quality of people’s life through various policies.”

The ACRC, which marks its tenth anniversary this year, launched in 2008 by integrating of the Ombudsman of Korea, the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption, and the Administrative Appeals Commission under the Prime Minister’s Office. Since its establishment, the ACRC has achieved outstanding outcomes by promoting synergy effect among societal functions for protecting people’s rights, and by seeking anti-corruption and institutional improvements.

Even though the numbers of officials has decreased after the integration, the Commission is now able to handle more ly an ever-increasing number of complaints and demands regarding the protection of people’s rights. Consultation on integrity is provided to organizations with low scores in complaint resolution assessments. Also, divisions in charge of different functions have benchmarked one another to improve their capabilities. Citizens have also found it more convenient to receive consultation by utilizing one-stop services.

The ACRC has strengthened anti-corruption and integrity policy, which had been promoted before its establishment. The Act on the Protection of Public Interest Whistleblowers was enacted in 2011, and was the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act in September last year. Both have helped to lay a stronger and more effective legal and institutional foundation to combat against corruption.

The ACRC has recently seen a number of outstanding achievements in its programs. The number of civil petitions filed through e-People and the 110 Government Call Center rapidly increased from 1.5 million in 2007 to 5 million in 2016. During the same period, the number of resolved petitions and appeals increased from 40,000 to 57,000, and the number of handled corruption reports jumped from 2,500 to 3,700.