Jung Won-oh, Seongdong District Mayor, Begins 8th Term with Consecutive Anti-Corruption Management Certification

July 1st 'Anti-Corruption Management System (ISO 37001) Continuous Certification Commemoration Unveiling Ceremony' Held, Official Start of the 8th Elected Term... Jung Won-oh, Seongdong District Mayor, States "As a Public Official, I Will Uphold Integrity and Courtesy to Earn Residents' Trust and Create a Clean Seongdong"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) officially began its 8th term on July 1st by holding the “Unveiling Ceremony for the Continuous Certification of the Anti-Corruption Management System (ISO 37001).”

At 8:40 a.m. on the day, Mayor Jeong Won-oh, Vice Mayor Yoo Bo-hwa, district executives, and the entire staff gathered for harmony and communication. The ceremony was attended by Lee Hae-il, head of the Seongdong-gu Public Officials Union branch, and a representative of new employees.

While flexible responses and policies are needed to meet the diverse demands of residents, a firm public service ethics is emphasized in administration. Having renewed the Anti-Corruption Management System (ISO 37001) certification last month, the district used this unveiling ceremony as an opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to integrity and anti-corruption.

Previously, to systematically manage and prevent potential corruption risks within the organization voluntarily, Seongdong-gu became the first local government nationwide to obtain the Anti-Corruption Management System (ISO 37001) certification in 2019. It has maintained the certification by passing annual follow-up audits and successfully renewed it in June.

Earlier this year, the district established the 2022 Anti-Corruption Clean Seongdong Promotion Plan and is accelerating efforts to improve the overall integrity of public institutions.

Starting with the “Integrity Practice Pledge” ceremony on March 16, where executives led by example and all employees participated to reaffirm their commitment to integrity, the district has been focusing on practical and low-burden integrity projects. These include various integrity campaigns using the internal administration network, establishing a system to prevent erroneous travel expense payments, and creating an Integrity Staircase.

They formed the “Anti-Corruption Integrity Policy Promotion Team” led by executives, holding bi-monthly integrity communication meetings to conduct internal inspections of anti-corruption social issues and build a consensus on integrity, thereby fostering exemplary integrity leadership.

Through sequential upward meetings and discussions by rank, the district conducted “Integrity Facilitation Workshops” to diagnose integrity levels and derive improvement tasks, activating internal communication on integrity. Additionally, all employees received integrity education on the identified issues, enhancing the effectiveness and participation of the training.

To improve residents’ convenience and increase trust in district administration, the district actively shared and benchmarked best practices in proactive administration, produced and distributed card news, and worked to establish a culture of proactive public service while eradicating passive administration. They also promoted a pre-consulting project in cooperation with Seoul City to seek solutions through consultations on unclear legal matters and controversial permits and approvals.

To establish an anti-corruption integrity system, Seongdong-gu enacted operational guidelines for preventing conflicts of interest among public officials in accordance with the Public Officials Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, which has been in effect since May. A Conflict of Interest Prevention Officer was appointed.

In addition, the district continues to promote integrity projects to activate corruption control, including strengthening autonomous internal control systems, operating contract reviews and routine audits, inspecting compliance with public service discipline and codes of conduct, self-purification efforts, and protecting whistleblowers reporting corruption.

Mayor Jeong Won-oh of Seongdong-gu said, “On the first morning of the 8th term, the unveiling ceremony reminded us once again of integrity as the highest value for public officials.” He added, “Let us all work together with pride as public officials to meet residents’ trust with integrity, kindness, fairness, and sincerity, and build a clean Seongdong-gu.”