Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Discusses Recovery of Corrupt Assets from Developing Countries with Ambassadors from Six Nations

Policy Meeting with Ambassadors to Korea from Six Countries Including India, Thailand, and Pakistan

Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chae-seok] Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, met with female ambassadors from six countries stationed in Korea on the 20th, ahead of the 19th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) to be held from the 1st to the 4th of next month, to discuss the issue of recovering illicit assets of corruption from developing countries that have been transferred abroad.

The meeting was attended by female ambassadors from six countries: India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Brunei, Kyrgyzstan, and Pakistan.

The six ambassadors stated, "The issue of corrupt assets of corrupt leaders from developing countries being transferred abroad to developed countries and others is serious," and added, "We hope this will be discussed in depth at the IACC for effective international cooperation to recover these assets."

They also emphasized the need to ensure transparency in procurement sectors such as pharmaceuticals to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.

Chairperson Jeon said, "Socially vulnerable groups suffer the most damage from corruption, and in the pandemic crisis situation, more consideration and international cooperation for these groups are necessary," and mentioned that related discussions will continue at the IACC.

Discussions also continued on ways to expand international cooperation such as anti-corruption information exchange between countries, taking advantage of Korea hosting the IACC.

The participants expressed their hope to share Korea's preventive policies such as integrity evaluations and integrity education, and to establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, Korea's main anti-corruption agency.

Meanwhile, the IACC is the world's largest anti-corruption public-private joint forum, co-hosted by Transparency International (TI) and the host country government. Since its first conference held in Washington, USA in 1983, it has been held biennially around the world.

The 19th IACC will be held as the first online video conference under the theme of "Truth, Trust, Transparency," and anyone worldwide can participate.