ACRC Overhauls Assessment Programs of Integrity In Public Institutions

- To enhance effectiveness of the evaluations to prevent corruption committed by public officials, such as the LH scandal, from occurring -

- To listen to and reflect the opinions of people from all walks of life, including the general public, experts and public institutions -

(1 April 2021, ACRC)

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (Chairperson Jeon Hyun-Heui, ACRC) is pushing forward with the overhaul of the assessment programs of integrity in the public sector, which celebrate their 20th anniversary this year.

The purpose of revamping the evaluation programs is to provide a turning point for strengthening anti-corruption efforts in the public service as the level of integrity in the public sector does not meet the expectations of the people as shown in the recent LH (Korea Land and Housing Corporation) scandal.

The ACRC has been operating the Integrity Assessment for public institutions where citizens who experience services in public agencies evaluate the agency's integrity level and the Anti-Corruption Initiative Assessment in which experts in and outside the Commission evaluates public institutions' anti-corruption efforts and performance since 2020. In March, it set up and released master plans for implementing the Assessments for 2021.

The ACRC organized a dedicated group to reform the assessment programs of integrity in the public sector in early March to lead the efforts against corruption, including prevention of conflict of interest and seeking of personal gains in public institutions, in order to avoid another corruption case in the public sector that can arouse indignation among citizens, such as the LH scandal.

In addition, the Commission listened to opinions of all public institutions, including not only the institutions that have been subject to the evaluations, but 880 agencies that have not so far been assessed, about ways to significantly increase the overall effectiveness of the Assessments, for example, by enhancing objective indicators and promoting the utilization of the evaluation results.

The ACRC is also planning to ask the general public for opinions, since the 1st of this month, through People's Idea Box that is run by the ACRC, and consult with experts both in the private and public sector, such as relevant academic associations and the Private-Public Consultative Council for Transparent Society, before developing a proposal on the reform of assessment programs of integrity in public institutions by June.

Han Sam-seok, Chief of the ACRC's Anti-Corruption Bureau commented "the ACRC intends to prepare for the next 20 years of the assessment programs of integrity in public institutions, which have been supported by the people and public officials in the last two decades."

He then added "we ask for continued interest and engagement of our citizens and public officials in reforming the programs as it marks a meaningful step toward the establishment of systematic processes of predicting, preventing and responding acts of corruption in public institutions."