Rep. Lee Hyung-seok: "False Asset Declarations by Public Officials Persist... Measures Must Be Established"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] It has been revealed that the institutional purpose of transparently disclosing public officials' assets to enhance public trust has not been properly ingrained in the public service community.

In particular, the number of cases of false asset declarations detected among officials of the Korea Coast Guard, National Police Agency, and Supreme Prosecutors' Office is relatively higher compared to other ministries, raising concerns about serious moral laxity among officials of investigative agencies who are supposed to strictly enforce the law.

According to data on the 'Government Public Officials Ethics Committee Asset Review Disposition Status' submitted by the Ministry of Personnel Management to Representative Lee Hyung-seok (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Buk-gu Eul), there have been 2,675 cases of legal actions taken over the past five years due to false asset declarations or omissions.

By year, the cases were recorded as 425 in 2015, 573 in 2016, 577 in 2017, 540 in 2018, and 560 in 2019.

According to the asset review disposition criteria of the Public Officials Ethics Committee, if the amount of omitted assets is between 50 million KRW and less than 300 million KRW, a 'warning and corrective action' is issued; if it is 300 million KRW or more, the committee may impose fines or disciplinary recommendations based on its judgment.

Among last year's disposition results by agency, the Korea Coast Guard had the highest number of public officials receiving warnings or higher sanctions with 68 cases (12.1%), followed by the National Police Agency with 54 (9.6%), Ministry of National Defense with 50 (8.9%), Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy with 37 (6.6%), Ministry of Education with 33 (5.9%), Supreme Prosecutors' Office with 30 (5.4%), and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport with 20 (3.6%).

Representative Lee Hyung-seok stated, "The obligation to faithfully report assets under the Public Officials Ethics Act is the minimum basic duty of public officials to earn the trust of the people and a promise to the public. We need to seek measures to increase disciplinary levels for those who report insincerely and to subdivide the reporting contents to prevent omissions."

Meanwhile, the asset registration system under the Public Officials Ethics Act has been in effect since 1983 and was expanded to include public officials of grade 4 and above starting in 1993.

Public officials subject to asset registration must fulfill their duties as servants of the people by preventing illicit asset accumulation and ensuring fairness in official duties, and they have an obligation to faithfully register their assets to establish public service ethics.