[Insight & Opinion] How to Eliminate Organizational Cultures Tolerant of Illegality

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) is sometimes regarded as a powerful institution since it decides on the re-licensing and re-approval of broadcasters. To work as an executive here, one usually has to pass the national civil service exams for grades 5 or 7 administered by the Ministry of Personnel Management, or become a socially recognized expert.

Recently, it was surprising that a director, a manager, and a university professor who served as the chief examiner at the KCC were arrested. During the 2020 re-approval evaluation of comprehensive programming channels, these directors and managers allegedly informed TV Chosun of their final evaluation scores and requested score adjustments, leading the chief examiner to lower the scores. Why would respected directors, managers, and professors working in a prestigious workplace become involved in a situation leading to detention? Manipulating those scores offers no benefit and carries great risk for the person responsible. Ordinary workers in our society can interpret this incident through their own "situational model." When seeing this case, often thought of as "there is an organizational culture that is hard to defy," most people think this way.

It was during a lecture at a graduate school of a university in Seoul in 2019. Since it was a night class, many working students attended. While explaining the concept of "integrated administration," I asked the students a question: "Suppose your superior asks you to do some illegal or unethical work for the organization. You feel uneasy and reluctant to comply. But if you refuse, you fear being labeled as disloyal and worry about being marginalized within the organization. What is the solution?"

Not a single student could find a solution. One responded, "I think I would panic in such a situation." From an educational standpoint, the answer should be "firmly refuse the superior's request," but they understood that reality does not always flow that way. I said, "The solution is 'gwanun' (官運, official fortune)." It was a self-deprecating remark meaning, "Those with good gwanun do not encounter such situations."

Recently, a director, manager, and secretary from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, who were accused of involvement in deleting data related to the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant and obstructing the Board of Audit and Inspection’s investigation, were sentenced to suspended prison terms by the Daejeon District Court. It is said that during the "nuclear phase-out government" era, after reporting the temporary operation of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant and receiving a scolding from the minister, they reversed course to halt operations. This led to controversies over the economic feasibility manipulation and data deletion related to Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant. This Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy case is also explained by the situational model of "there is an organizational culture that is hard to defy."

A 2021 U.S. Department of State report stated that there were "numerous" reports of government corruption in South Korea. In the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, South Korea ranked 31st, falling short of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s target of being within the top 20. According to a survey by the Korea Institute of Public Administration, 61.9% of corporate employees said corruption is severe in the public sector.

An organizational culture that casually forces minor illegal or unethical acts under the pretext of "orders from above" poses a serious latent threat to workers. This culture trickles down from politicians to public officials, public enterprises, and private companies. The generally high public support for the prosecution’s investigation into the allegations against Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is also closely related to the serious corruption issues in our reality.

The People Power Party claims that the Moon Jae-in government oppressed the opposition through investigations into accumulated evils, while the Democratic Party of Korea says the Yoon Suk-yeol government is oppressing the opposition. While these two parties alternate as perpetrators and victims, I believe our country has become somewhat more transparent. Over a generation, landscapes and cultures change. If, over the next 30 years, every five years when the government changes, corruption from the previous administration is thoroughly investigated and punished, even including document forgery, then the organizational culture that tolerates illegality will disappear. No matter how high the position, it will become a culture where no one dares to order "raise the numbers," "lower them," "destroy documents," or "insert them."

Heo Man-seop, Professor, Department of Liberal Education, Gangneung-Wonju National University