ACRC "a Prevention of Conflict of Interest Law Should Promptly Be Enacted as It Will Fundamentally Prevent 200 Million Public Officials from Seeking Personal Gains"

- “ACRC should conduct full-scale research on real estate speculation of National Assembly members as the overseer of anti-corruption policies and supervisor of conflict of interest related rules” -

(22 March 2021, ACRC)

The ACRC remarked "the Prevention of Conflict of Interest bill governs some two million public officials, such as members of the National Assembly as well as municipal and provincial councils and employees in public enterprises, and contains tough penalties that can fundamentally prevent the acts of seeking personal interests by public officials through the use of confidential information obtained while performing duties."

During the MBC radio show "Pyo Chang-won's News High Kick," on the 19th, An ACRC Official said, "as the ACRC oversees the Codes of Conduct regarding conflict of interest in the public service, it is planning to conduct nationwide research to identify the reality around violations of the Codes of Conduct, such as the LH (Korea Land and Housing Corporatio) scandal, even before a conflict of interest prevention law is enacted."

ACRC began with apologies, saying "we are extremely sorry to our people for the LH scandal that took place despite the efforts the Commission has devoted to faithfully fulfil its roles and functions as the supervisor of the national anti-corruption initiatives."

ACRC then expressed her regrets, stating "if a prevention of conflict of interest law had been legislated, the LH scandal would have been practically avoidable as the law would have made it mandatory for employees to report their real estate transactions in advance and been barred from the duties related to such transactions."

ACRC also added "the bill includes the toughest penalties among related laws available now as it sentences up to 7 years in prison and 70 million won in fine when one is caught while keeping such transactions secret and seeking personal gains by taking advantage of confidential information acquired during one's performance of duties, and confiscates or additionally collects to seize the whole of profits in property."

ACRC mentioned about the subject of the prevention of conflict of interest bill, saying "it is applicable to some 20 million public officials, encompassing not only government employees across the nation, but members of the National Assembly as well as municipal and provincial councils, and employees in public enterprises. It especially applies stricter rules to high-ranking public officials."

ACRC also remarked "there would be no issues for public officials in carrying out their duties after making prior reports and avoiding any duties in question as the bill dictates. It will rather get easier for them to fulfill their duties because the bill will serve as the excuse for not responding to improper solicitation as the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act does."

When asked about who should conduct investigation of all the members of the National Assembly, on which both the ruling and opposition parties agreed, ACRC answered "the ACRC seems to be the right agency to do so as it oversees the nation's anti-corruption policies and supervises the Codes of Conduct regarding conflict of interest in the public service."

ACRC then elaborated on the reason by saying "the Commission has many investigators who once worked or are still working as prosecutors, police officers and lawyers and have extensive experience in corruption related research. The ACRC also has an experience of conducting investigation of all the public officials, including the National Assembly members, on the support for overseas business trips in 2018."

An ACRC Official said, "we are planning to carry out nationwide research to identify the reality around violations of the Code of Conduct for Public Officials, such as the LH scandal and the violation of conflict of interest by the Mayor of Yongsan District, even before a prevention of conflict of interest law is legislated."