[Exclusive] The Moon Administration's 'Public Institution Recruitment Corruption Eradication Task Force' Disappeared Without a Sound

No Announcement of 4th Survey Results and 'Dissolution of Task Force'
Ministry of the Interior Notifies Disbandment: "Temporary Organization Achieved Goals, Activities Suspended"
Attention on Possibility of Permanent Institution for Yoon Government's Hiring Corruption

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporters Kim Hyewon and Son Seonhee] It has been confirmed that the "Public Institution Recruitment Corruption Eradication Task Force," which was ambitiously launched at the government-wide level by the Moon Jae-in administration to establish a fair society, has been disbanded. The 4th comprehensive investigation, which took nearly half a year of budget and time, was disbanded without any public announcement of the results, causing even internal members of the task force to express confusion.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) on the 21st, the task force, which officially launched in 2018 and continued its activities until last year, saw all five dispatched public officials return to their original departments earlier this year following a sudden notification from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The remaining two employees belonging to the ACRC were absorbed into the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s Bribery Prohibition System Division.

The ACRC has conducted annual comprehensive investigations targeting approximately 1,400 to 1,600 public institutions, local public institutions, and public-related organizations as part of the "anti-corruption reform," a core national agenda in the first year of the Moon administration in 2017. In this process, the task force was formed in November 2018 to intensify efforts to eradicate public corruption, achieving meaningful results in the 1st to 3rd investigations. The task force completed the 4th comprehensive investigation on recruitment corruption from July to November last year and notified each ministry and institution. However, the investigation results were not publicly announced. This was due to a sudden order from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety at the end of last year to disband the task force.

An official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Social Organization Division explained, "Basically, recruitment corruption is supervised by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and local governments, and institutional improvements have been made to strengthen personnel audit authority under related laws. Since the task force was a temporary organization, it was judged that it had largely achieved its purpose, leading to the suspension of its activities."

In 2017, Kim Dong-yeon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, and Park Sang-ki, Minister of Justice, among others, are briefing the results of an emergency meeting of related ministers on eradicating personnel and recruitment corruption in public institutions at the Government Seoul Office.

The Moon administration’s efforts to eradicate recruitment corruption in public institutions, which ended in a "promising start but disappointing finish," are likely to be reborn as a permanent organization under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. In cases of serious recruitment corruption, internal whistleblowing plays a decisive role, so there are clear limitations to audits conducted solely by each institution. Since investigating and uncovering recruitment corruption requires accumulated know-how, there are opinions both inside and outside the government that the organization should be made permanent.

President-elect Yoon proposed pledges such as the "Establishment of an Integrated Recruitment Corruption Reporting Center" and the "Enactment of the Fair Recruitment Act" during his candidacy. However, it remains to be seen how these will be reflected in organizational restructuring, as Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the Presidential Transition Committee, pledged during his candidacy to reorganize the ACRC into a National Integrity Commission as one of his three major anti-corruption policies. If Ahn’s pledge gains traction, the ACRC’s grievance handling and administrative appeal functions may be transferred under the Prime Minister’s office, and a separate organization to eradicate public office corruption could be established.

A senior official from the ACRC said, "I believe a formal organization is needed to handle not only recruitment corruption but also public corruption such as fraudulent subsidy claims," adding, "During the transition committee’s briefing, we plan to comprehensively report on the past achievements of the recruitment corruption eradication task force along with operational results and organizational issues."