ACRC Directly Communicates with the 8th Popularly Elected Local Government Regarding Future Policy Direction for Integrity and Fairness

Municipal auditors’ meetings were held on Sep. 14 and 16

(September 14 2022, ACRC)

A venue for communication between central and local government to come up with policies for integrity and fairness to leap forward as an advanced country in the field of anti-corruption has been established.

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Jeon Hyun Heui) on Sep. 14 and 16 held “meetings with municipal auditors” with a view to communicating directly with and listening opinions from local governments regarding policy direction for fair and transparent society as the 8th popularly elected local government was newly launched.

The meetings were attended by auditors from 17 upper level local governments on Sep. 14 and auditors from 226 municipalities on Sep. 16.

At the meetings, participants shared their opinions about anti-corruption policy implementation direction for the second half of 2022, listened to difficulties in implementing current anti-corruption institutions and put forward suggestions related thereto.

With regard to anti-corruption policy implementation direction, participants shared: results of check-ups on the compliance status of anti-corruption code of conduct for public officials including the Act on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest Related to Duties of Public Servants and the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and on the public fiscal management status in the second half of the year; outcomes of Corruption Risk Assessment conducted on municipal laws and regulations and of reinforced management of mandatory anti-corruption education completion; and changes in institutions for handling of corruption and public interest reports, protection of reporters’ confidentiality, and restrictions on employment of public officials dismissed for corruption, etc.

ACRC had time to explain anti-corruption institutions for integrity improvements given the characters of upper-level local governments and municipalities.

First of all, in order to support upper-level local governments in their integrity advancement, ACRC gave them an overview of the Integrity Consulting Program* and its achievements over the past years in the meeting on Sep. 14 and also discussed how to develop the program further in the future.

* ACRC along with experts and mentoring institutions (best performing institutions in the Comprehensive Integrity Assessment) examine the status of local governments whose integrity levels are relatively low and offer comprehensive customized solutions

In the meeting for municipalities held on Sep. 16, ACRC explained the Comprehensive Integrity Assessment newly revised this year and matters to which attention should be paid.

From this year, comprehensive integrity levels of local governments are assessed by integrating results of an Integrity Assessment which relies on the integrity survey of stakeholders, including citizens and public officials, with the Anti-Corruption Initiative Assessment (AIA) that evaluates anti-corruption efforts of public institutions of various levels. Most of municipalities will be covered by this Comprehensive Integrity Assessment for the first time since they have not been previously assessed through AIA.

Lastly, ACRC listened to opinions of local officials directly on the spot and plans to review whether to reflect those opinions in its policy implementation. ACRC also collected various opinions of local authorities suggested based on materials shared prior to the meetings, and among opinions suggested during the meetings, those to be reflected into policy measures will be sent back to the divisions in charge for reviews.

ACRC Vice Chairperson Ahn Sung-wook said, “Public officials in local governments have contributed a lot to improving our national integrity level through dedicating themselves to direct communication with the general public,” adding that “ACRC and the 8th popularly elected local governments will closely cooperate in improving the national performance in Corruption Perceptions Index and taking a leap forward as a nation with an advanced integrity level.”