Gyeonggi-do to Thoroughly Reform 'Gapjil Culture'... Measures to Eradicate It Established

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

Gyeonggi Province is actively working to create an "organization culture without gapjil" by implementing education to eradicate gapjil among senior public officials and expert lectures for departments vulnerable to corruption.

On the 8th, Gyeonggi Province announced that it has prepared and is implementing measures to eradicate gapjil in order to restore public trust following a series of misconduct incidents involving provincial officials and to foster a public service culture based on mutual respect.

The measures consist of five major strategies and 25 tasks, including ▲strengthening preventive education for zero gapjil ▲promoting gapjil eradication campaigns and publicity ▲enhancing inspection activities and penalties for perpetrators ▲unifying reporting and complaint channels and strengthening victim protection ▲activating public-private governance for gapjil eradication.

Gyeonggi Province views awareness improvement as the most important factor in eradicating gapjil and is preparing various preventive education programs while linking them with publicity and campaigns to eliminate blind spots for gapjil.

Accordingly, on the 9th, Gyeonggi Province will hold a "Clean Live Education Opening Change and Opportunity" attended by about 400 people, including Governor Kim Dong-yeon, the vice governor, and senior officials at grade 4 or higher.

Based on the results of an employee integrity awareness survey conducted in April, 30 departments vulnerable to corruption were selected, and external expert lectures will be held until September. In addition, the Investigation Officer plans to visit 14 department heads directly to convey employees' grievances and request improvements.

Other initiatives include ▲mandatory integrity education led by department heads ▲integrity morning broadcasts ▲gapjil eradication posters and banner promotions ▲production and distribution of integrity promotional materials for employees ▲public-private joint campaigns to improve gapjil awareness.

Furthermore, efforts to eradicate gapjil will continue in connection with follow-up measures to establish public service discipline announced on the 24th of last month.

Gyeonggi Province is already piloting a "100-day Integrity Call" to root out misconduct such as gapjil. It also announced that a fast-track process will be applied to investigations and disciplinary actions to confirm violations within seven days and take measures such as excluding offenders from public office.

When violations are detected, a zero-tolerance principle (one strike out) will be strictly enforced, and those disciplined for gapjil will be subject to more than 10 hours of education along with strong penalties affecting promotions and allowances.

Gyeonggi Province will enhance accessibility by unifying the reporting window into a one-click system, activate gapjil reporting, and strengthen measures to protect whistleblowers (victims).

Choi Hong-gyu, the Investigation Officer of Gyeonggi Province, emphasized, "Gapjil fosters conflict and rigidifies organizations, and rigid organizations are unlikely to develop. The province will take the lead in eradicating gapjil to create a culture of mutual respect and an organizational culture where individual capabilities and creativity can be demonstrated, thereby producing administrative achievements."