A Total of 1,463 Public Officials Violated the Anti-Graft Act... About 300 Caught Annually

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seonhee] Since the implementation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, nearly 1,500 public officials have been subject to related disciplinary actions.

On the 17th, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced the results of the "Public Institution Improper Solicitation and Graft Act Operation Status Inspection." This inspection aimed to investigate the status of reports and handling of violations of the Act received by various institutions from the Act's enforcement date on September 28, 2016, to the end of last December, as well as the designation of officers in charge of preventing solicitation and other operational aspects of the system.

Since the Act's enforcement until the end of last year, a total of 12,120 violation reports were received by institutions at all levels. By type, improper solicitation accounted for 65% (7,842 cases), acceptance of money or valuables 32% (3,933 cases), and excessive fees for external lectures, etc., 3% (345 cases).

Reports of violations increased significantly from 1,568 cases in 2017 to 4,386 cases in 2018, but have decreased to around 1,000 cases annually since 2020. Last year, there were 1,385 cases, about 21% less than the previous year.

By the end of last year, a total of 1,463 public officials were disciplined for violations of the Act. By type, acceptance of money or valuables accounted for the majority with 1,379 people, followed by improper solicitation with 73 people, and excessive fees for external lectures, etc., with 11 people.

The number of disciplined individuals increased sharply from 156 in 2017 to 334 in 2018, and has remained at around 300 annually since then. Last year, 321 public officials were disciplined. By type of disciplinary action, fines accounted for 64% (943 people), additional disciplinary fines 20% (291 people), and criminal penalties 16% (229 people).

Additionally, through on-site inspections, the Commission detected 48 inappropriate reporting cases, such as closing cases without requesting investigations or punishing only recipients of money or valuables without notifying providers of fines, and requested corrective actions from the relevant institutions. Going forward, whether institutions take corrective actions will be reflected in the "Integrity Effort Evaluation" for management purposes.

The Commission also plans to amend the Act to establish provisions prohibiting improper solicitation to the private sector by public officials, continuously inspect vulnerable areas where inappropriate practices such as preferential treatment to public officials remain, and prepare improvement measures.

Han Samseok, Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau at the Commission, said, "We expect this inspection to serve as an opportunity for institutions at all levels to enforce the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act more strictly and for public officials' awareness of legal compliance to improve." He added, "Together with the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, which will be enforced from the 19th of this month, we will actively strive to firmly establish these as codes of conduct for public officials."