"Watching with Eyes Wide Open for Even an Hour" ... Andong-si, Gyeongbuk, Public Officials' Strong Self-Cleaning Efforts Against Misconduct

Special Inspection Conducted for Overtime, Unauthorized Travel Expense Claims, and Work Negligence

Andong City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gwiyeol] Andong City in Gyeongbuk has launched a strong self-purification effort to prevent misconduct among public officials.

Andong City recently encountered cases of improper receipt of overtime pay from various parts of the country and conducted a high-intensity internal investigation to discipline those involved and establish preventive measures.

The city judged that there were cases of lax public service discipline within the organization following the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's service audit last year. From June to August last year, a rigorous internal investigation on improper receipt of overtime pay was conducted targeting all public officials in Andong City.

As a result of the investigation, 111 public officials were caught and received reprimands and warnings, and 10.83 million KRW of improperly received amounts were recovered.

Along with this, double the amount of the improperly received pay was additionally collected, and strong measures such as a three-month ban on overtime orders were imposed.

This investigation applied without exception even minor cases of improper receipt of overtime pay for as little as one hour, based on an analysis of the main office vehicle entry and exit system, serving as a warning within the organization.

In the future, if fraudulent receipt is confirmed, the surcharge will be increased up to five times, and if the improperly received amount exceeds 1 million KRW, severe disciplinary actions ranging from suspension to dismissal and expulsion will be taken to eradicate misconduct.

Along with this, the city will also conduct special inspections to preemptively block negligence and lax discipline that may arise in the atmosphere surrounding Lunar New Year, the presidential election, and local elections.

From the 24th of this month until the end of the election, a special inspection period will be set, and a special inspection team composed of 8 members in 2 groups will be formed to check compliance with commuting times, unauthorized absence from work sites, false business trips, and overtime work conditions.

They also plan to focus inspections on acts of receiving money or entertainment from persons related to duties and violations of the public officials' code of conduct.

A city official said, “Through intensive inspection activities, we plan to raise the integrity awareness of public officials and fundamentally block repeatedly occurring public service corruption.”