Public Institution Employees Must Report 'Sexual Crimes and Drunk Driving'... Management Guidelines Revised

Korea Land and Housing Corporation embroiled in controversy over land speculation scandal
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] From now on, employees working at public institutions will also be required to notify their affiliated institutions if they commit misconduct such as sexual crimes or drunk driving, just like regular public officials. Previously, notification was only mandatory for job-related crimes, but the scope has now been expanded.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 25th, the Public Institution Management Committee revised the management guidelines for public institutions with this content at a meeting held at the end of last month and delivered it to each institution. For public officials or teachers, under relevant laws, if they are investigated for various misconducts, regardless of whether the crime is job-related, the investigation agency must notify the affiliated institution of the start and end of the investigation. Although public institution employees were also advised to notify based on the National Public Service Act, it was only a recommendation, so if the person under investigation concealed the fact, it was difficult for the affiliated institution to know. As a result, there were some cases where individuals committed crimes but avoided disciplinary action or were even promoted.

In response, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission recommended in July that if public institution employees are investigated for sexual crimes or drunk driving, the relevant institution should be notified, and this recommendation was made to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Justice, and the National Police Agency. Accordingly, the government revised the management guidelines for public institutions.

However, due to the autonomous management policy of public institutions, it is difficult to enforce this mandate. A Ministry of Economy and Finance Public Policy Bureau official explained, "We have disseminated the revised management guidelines so that public institutions can amend their internal regulations," but added, "However, it requires labor-management agreement and board resolution at each institution."

Unlike public officials under the central government, public institution employees are not subject to the Public Officials Act and are managed according to each institution’s internal regulations, so it is difficult to enforce this solely through the revision of management guidelines. However, following incidents such as the land speculation scandal involving some employees of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in the first half of this year, there is a growing demand for securing the morality of public institution employees.

Accordingly, a bill has been proposed in the National Assembly to make notification of investigation facts mandatory for public institution employees as well. Park Dae-chul, a member of the People Power Party, recently introduced the "Partial Amendment to the Act on the Management of Public Institutions" as the main proposer, which requires that public institution employees notify the head of the public institution of investigation facts and results related to misconduct such as sexual crimes or drunk driving, regardless of job relevance. The bill aims to establish a legal basis to dismiss public institution employees who commit misconduct based on investigation results.