ACRC Implements Ten Anti-Corruption Initiatives to Tighten Discipline in Public Service

- To review the operation of conflict of interest prevention system in public institutions at all levels to avoid another LH scandal -

(1 April 2021, ACRC)

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission plans to initiate, in April, a comprehensive review of the implementation of anti-corruption initiatives in the public sector, including the operation of the prevention system of conflict of interest under the Code of Conduct in the public agencies at all levels in order to tighten the discipline in the public service that has come under the spotlight after the LH (Korea Land and Housing Corporation) scandal.

In a briefing session held over the Implementation Plan of Ten Anti-Corruption and Integrity Innovation Initiatives in Public Institutions in the afternoon of the 1st at Seoul Government Complex, Chairperson laid out detailed anti-corruption measures to fundamentally prevent moral complacency in public institutions, such as the LH, which was talked over during the 7th Anti-Corruption Policy Consultative Council on the 29th of the last month.

First, the ACRC will examine the implementation of different anti-corruption policies, such as the Code of Conduct for Public Officials and the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. It will carry out an overall review to identify whether the prevention of conflict of interest system prescribed in the Code of Conduct of each institution is running well, even a conflict of interest law has not yet been enacted but is still under discussion in the National Assembly.

The Commission also plans to conduct special investigations of the current employment system in public institutions under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport by having the employment irregularity task force to make ad-hoc inspections on the public enterprises that recently hired LH retirees. At the same time, it is going to carry out on-site investigations by institution to root out inappropriate work practices where those who violated the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act only faced internal disciplinary actions rather than criminal penalties or fines. As for the recovery of public funds, the ACRC will form a joint team that will regularly and intensively review corruption-prone areas in central and local administrative agencies as well as educational institutions to ban false claims and retrieve illicit profits.

In addition, the Commission will run an intensive reporting period on real estate speculation cases committed by public officials by June 30, and plans to set up a coordination scheme with the Government Joint Special Investigation Headquarters to protect whistleblowers.

The ACRC will advise institutional improvement to public institutions that are at high risk of taking advantage of internal information or involving personal interests, so that their institutions can reflect conflict of interest rules. It is also going to make prior notice mandatory in case a public official plans to have a private meeting with another retired public official, and to restrict retirees from personally using the internal information of the institution to which the retiree used to belong once the individual leaves office. Furthermore, the Commission plans to update the Integrity Assessment model by adding indicators to measure non-monetary corruption, seeking personal gains in a conflict of interest, among others.

The ACRC has decided to draw up and distribute an ethics and compliance management guideline to manage corruption risks and strengthen the internal control of public enterprises, and to work on the introduction of a certification system for public enterprises that develop and run an ethics and compliance program. It will make in-person integrity education mandatory for high-ranking public officials, such as the heads, auditors, and senior management members of public institutions, while overseeing special education for agencies where serious fraud took place.

Particularly, the Commission is planning to proactively engage in cooperation and support to encourage the observance of the Code of Conduct for Public Officials, including the obligation to prevent a conflict of interest, protect whistleblowers, and expand integrity education by signing MOUs with regional governments across the nation, starting from Gyeonggi Provincial Government in April.

An ACRC Official said, "we will look for every policy instrument at our disposal to resolve the LH land speculation scandal and eliminate corrupt practices, and make sure to completely address corruption in real estate without fail as we promised to the people."

Attachment		Implementation of Ten Anti-Corruption and Integrity Innovation Initiatives for Public Officials

□ Supporting the Enactment of a Conflict of Interest Law and Reviewing the Implementation of the Codes of Conduct

○ To enact and operate a law that stipulates detailed behavioral standards designed for public officials to prevent a conflict of interest from occurring and ban from seeking wrongful personal gains

○ To carry out document and on-site review in parallel of the introduction and operation of a conflict of interest prevention system in the Codes of Conduct in public agencies at all levels

□ Special Investigation on Re-Employement and Recruitment in Public Institutions under MOLIT

○ To promptly deploy the employment irregularity task force to the public enterprise (Saemangeum Development Corporation) that hired the LH retiree who was covered by the media to conduct research on the current situation (March 23)

○ To carry out a special investigation on the reality of employment in the public institutions under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) that hired LH retirees or employed candidates through limited competition last year (23 in total) (March 29 ~ April 9)

□ Special Investigation of Violations against the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and Inappropriate Practices

○ To advise corrective measures for inappropriate handling cases and reinforce the operation of the system in public institutions through on-site investigation

○ To push forward with the revision of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act by introducing a proxy reporting system where whistleblowers’ identity is kept confidential, imposing enforcement levies on those who fail to put protective measures for whistleblowers in practice, and laying the foundation of the compensation payment, among others

□ Regular Review of the State of Public Fiscal Waste

○ To conduct document and on-site review side by side by examining the results of budgets and recovery of funds of central, local and educational finance in 2020, etc.

□ Running an Intensive Reporting Period on Real Estate Speculation Committed by Public Officials

○ To run an intensive reporting period on acts of seeking personal interests by public officials through the use of information obtained while performing duties, including real estate speculation (March 4 ~ June 30)

□ Modification of the Entire Conflict of Interest Systems in Public Institutions

○ To develop and advise improvement plans to reflect conflict of interest rules when reviewing company regulations of the public institutions that are at high risk of taking advantage of internal information in fulfilling personal benefits or involving personal interests (e.g. LH, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Express Corporation, local government-invested public corporations, etc.)

○ To make prior notice mandatory in case a public official having a private meeting with another retired public official, and to restrict retirees from personally using and leaking internal information of the institution to which the retiree used to belong once the individual leaves office

□ Creating and Strengthening Indicators Related to Conflict of Interest for the IA and AIA

○ (Updating the Integrity Assessment model) To develop new indicators to measure non-monetary corruption, seeking personal gains in a conflict of interest, among others

○ (Enhancing the Anti-Corruption Initiative Assessment) To create an indicator to evaluate efforts in making systems of preventing conflict of interest take root as well as responses against corruption issues by institution, and make the indicator that measures levels of anti-corruption efforts by the heads and senior members of the agencies more comprehensive

□  Promoting the Adoption of Ethics and Compliance Management Programs in Public Enterprises

○ To introduce a certification system where the ACRC issues a certificate after evaluation when an enterprise that runs an ethics and compliance management program requests for certification

□ Reinforcing Integrity Education for High-Ranking Public Officials and Securing the Power of Execution of the Program

○ To make in-person integrity education for high-ranking officials at senior management level or above in public institutions, and increase the power of execution of the program by reporting the results of the completion of education by high-ranking public officials, such as the heads, auditors, and senior management members of the agencies to cabinet meetings

Cooperating with and Supporting Local Governments in Anti-Corruption Efforts and Innovation

○ To coordinate and cooperate to encourage the observance of the Code of Conduct for Public Officials in local governments, including the obligation to prevent a conflict of interest, protect whistleblowers, and promote corruption and public interest reporting; and to cooperate in strengthening integrity education in local governments to increase the anti-corruption awareness among public officials

※ Efforts underway in signing MOUs with 17 regional governments, including Gyeonggi, Jeju and North Gyeongsang Provincial Governments (since April 2)