ACRC demands the organizations concerned to dismiss, accuse, or issue caution to the illegally employed

In the past five years (from July 2011 to June 2016), eight out of 1,843 former public officials who had been dismissed for corruption violated regulations regarding restrictions on employment and re-obtained jobs in public and private organizations.

The ACRC disclosed that eight former officials (six from public organizations, and two from private organizations) who had been dismissed for corruption had violated the Act on Anti-Corruption and the Establishment and Operation of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (the Anti-Corruption ACRC Act). On March 17, the ACRC issued requests for the relevant organizations to dismiss and accuse four of these individuals, and issue caution to the rest four.

Article 82 of the Anti-Corruption ACRC Act prior to the amendment states that Any public official who rightly resigns or is removed or dismissed from office for committing an act of corruption in connection with his/her duties while working for a public institution shall be prohibited from obtaining a job in any public institution, any private company incorporated for the purpose of making profits in a certain scale, which has maintained close ties with the department to which he/she belonged for three years before he/she resigns, or any corporation or organization established for the purpose of pursuing a common interest and mutual cooperation with a profit-making company, for five years from the date he/she resigns.

Those in violation of the law may be imprisoned for up to two years or fined up to KRW 20 million. The ACRC inspection revealed several cases of violation as follows.

Former public officer A received money and valuables from a company of acquaintance in return for illegally soliciting a public officer responsible for allocating government support funds for companies, and was dismissed in November 2011. It was discovered that A had been hired by and worked for a public organization for seven months from August 2016.

Former public officer B embezzled cash revenue from a parking fee collection system while serving in a public corporation and was removed in April 2014. B was found to have been hired as a non-regular worker by a public organization since July 2016.

Former public officer C, who received illegal solicitation and cash in return for illegal favors while serving in a public organization, faced disciplinary dismissal in August 2014. C was found to have been hired by a company which had carried out three outsourcing projects with the department of the public organization for which C had previously been working.

Former public officer D received cash from a duty-related company and was removed from office in October 2015. D was found to have been hired by a private company which had supplied products to D’s previous employer.

As a result of these disclosures, on March 17, the ACRC requested that the respective organizations in charge bring accusations against A and C, dismissal to B, and dismissal and accusation against D.

Regarding four other former public officials who had worked short term in public organizations for their livelihood before retiring, the ACRC called for caution for nonrecurrence.

The ACRC expects that restrictions on public officials dismissed for corruption will be strengthened following the revision of the Anti-Corruption ACRC Act to expand the scope of subject organizations and officials.

The ACRC expressed its intention to promote strengthened restrictions to public organizations to improve the effectiveness of the system of employment restriction for former corrupt public officials and conduct inspections strictly. The ACRC also expressed its hope for the system to play a significant role in eradicating corruption by public officials.