One Year after its Chairperson took office, ACRC Established Ground for Anti-Corruption Reform

ACRC will focus on removing unfair practices such as employment irregularities and abuse of power during the second half of 2018

June 29, 2018

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

The Republic of Korea

Celebrating one year of Chairperson Pak Un Jong’s taking office, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (hereinafter “ACRC”) assessed its major policies of the past year and decided to improve its strategy to ensure that the commission’s organizational reform bill enabling the ACRC to serve an anti-corruption control tower could pass the National Assembly as soon as possible.

Chairperson Pak said that for the past one year, thanks to the support and interest from the public toward the ACRC, the commission has been able to be faithful to its mission of tackling corruption and protecting people’s rights and interests. She explained ACRC’s major achievements in detail to the public on the commission’s website.

First, the ACRC has laid a foundation for anti-corruption reform since she took office. For example, the commission set up government-wide Anti-Corruption Policy Consultative Committee to explore and discuss anti-corruption initiatives, launched Public-Private Consultative Committee for Transparent Society to strengthen cooperation with the civil society, and developed mid-and-long term anti-corruption roadmap to meet the strong public desire for a nation without corruption.

Second, to better achieve the purpose and effectiveness of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, the ACRC amended the Enforcement Decree of the Act based on the assessment of the Act’s economic and social impact. With an aim to prevent public officials from using their office to unduly exert influence or seek private gains, the commission incorporated conflict-of-interest prevention system in the Code of Conduct for Public Officials. In addition, the ACRC has complemented whistle-blowing protection laws and regulations in a consistent manner by allowing a lawyer to report a whistle-blowing case on behalf of the whistleblower and adopting punitive damages against the reported.

Chairperson Pak said that the ACRC has made special efforts to address unfair practices and current anti-corruption issues such as the recent employment irregularities, which has made people in their 20s or 30s frustrated, and public officials’ abuse of power, which has become a social issue. As the nation’s anti-corruption coordinating body, the ACRC did its utmost to address such issues as swiftly as possible through cooperation with relevant authorities.

In addition, she mentioned that the ACRC has carried out various measures to protect and improve citizen’s rights and interests. Among them were the On-site Outreach Program for the vulnerable and underprivileged, mediation and resolution of collective complaints which contain conflicting interests among stakeholders, expansion of On-Site Business Complaints Meetings to create more jobs, and adoption of court-appointed counsel and mediation system in administrative appeals.

She said that one of the most important achievements was the commission’s important role in the establishment of “government by the people” by reflecting people’s voices. The commission spread a culture of communication with the citizens, promoting citizen participation and strong engagement in government policy procedure using its People’s Idea Box, an online public participation platform, Citizen Monitoring Body on Integrity Policy, and Citizen Participated Roundtable Meeting.

Chairperson Pak said that even though the ACRC has made such significant achievements so far, there is still a room for improvement and complementation, admitting where the commission needs to make more efforts.

She said that due to legislative limits, the commission has not been able to fully serve its role of the nation’s anti-corruption control tower. In addition, there was criticism that whistleblowers on corruption and public interest violation were not fully protected and their personal information was not fully kept confidential. And irregularities and corruption in the private sector such as corporate corruption and large enterprises’ power abuse were not successfully addressed. These are the things that need improvement in the commission’s work going forward.

However, citing international community’s enhanced recognition toward Korea’s efforts to implement anti-corruption policy, she expressed her expectation that if the ACRC better performs its role, Korean society will become more transparent and people will feel the effect.

* Andrew Spalding, a professor of Richmond University of the U.S, said in an article dated February 2018 that Korea, with its aggressive enforcement of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, is a leader in the global anti-corruption movement.

* Hong Kong Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERK) commented that the ACRC has made a lot of efforts to prevent corruption such as enforcement of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and operation of the Code of Conduct for Public Officials’ (Mar. 29, 2018)

* International Institute for Management Development (IMD) announced that according to the 2018 national competitive assessment, Korea was ranked 35th in the category of bribery and corruption, five notches higher than last year.

Chairperson Pak said that based on the achievements and self-reflection, the ACRC will endeavor to produce tangible anti-corruption reform results that the public could feel the effect and make more multitude efforts to enhance public participation and communication. She promised the public that by doing so the ACRC will contribute to the Moon Jae-in administration’s efforts in its second year to make achievements in governing the nation and enhancing quality of life for the people.

In order to deliver on such promises, she suggested following eight major tasks: (a) securing anti-corruption reform drive by carrying out organizational reform and strengthening the commission’s functions; (b) pushing customized anti-corruption policies to root out endemic corruption in local areas; (c) ending unfair and power-abusing practices by establishing strict management system against employment irregularities; (d) laying a strong foundation for corruption / public interest violation whistleblower protection system; (e) pushing policies to enhance Korea’s standing in Corruption Perception Index in a multifaceted way including reducing private sector corruption; (f) resolving grievances of the underprivileged and micro- business owners on site; (g) making institutional improvements in areas of complaint-handling and corruption related to people’s daily lives to reflect public opinion; and (h) enhancing citizen participation through Public-Private Consultative Council Committee for Transparent Society, etc.

She affirmed that the second half of this year, the ACRC will make its utmost efforts to swiftly achieve these eight tasks through citizen participation and will show that it has been transformed itself as an anti-corruption control tower and Ombudsman institution true to the name.