Gimhae City Achieves 'Highest Grade' in Comprehensive Integrity Evaluation of Public Institutions

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Gimhae City, Gyeongnam, received the highest grade, Grade 1, in the 2022 Comprehensive Integrity Evaluation of Public Institutions conducted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.

According to the city on the 26th, the 2022 evaluation was the first to be conducted after a complete overhaul that integrated the integrity evaluation and anti-corruption policy evaluation, which had been conducted for 20 years.

▲‘Integrity Perception’ measures the corruption perception and experience of the public who have experienced public institution work and internal employees through surveys ▲‘Integrity Effort’ evaluates the anti-corruption efforts of institutions at all levels through performance and effectiveness of indicators ▲‘Corruption Penalty’ reflects the actual occurrence of corruption incidents in the institution, and the final classification of institutions into five grades was announced based on these combined factors.

Gyeongnam Gimhae City Hall. [Photo by Gimhae City Hall]

The city explained that it secured high scores in establishing and implementing anti-corruption promotion plans, efforts and leadership of the head of the institution and senior officials, and efforts to protect whistleblowers of corruption and public interest.

It added that it has promoted policies for communication and collaboration such as integrity activities led by the senior officials’ integrity promotion team, integrity concerts, integrity communication meetings, and proposals for organizations where public officials are happy, and focused on two-way communication with citizens through initiatives such as Integrity and Sympathy Ibagu and the introduction of a citizen jury system for pledge evaluation.

This year, the city plans to implement strong measures to block corruption, including strengthening internal audits and inspections on minor and customary hospitality and conveniences such as gift acceptance, meal hosting, and transportation provision, as well as personnel measures against corrupt actors.

Mayor Hong Taeyong said, “This result is thanks to all employees coming together and actively participating in making Gimhae a city of integrity,” and added, “We will continuously discover and spread an integrity culture based on internal and external communication to establish a sustainable anti-corruption integrity culture.”