Police Special Crackdown on Recruitment Corruption in Public and Private Sectors
and Construction and Industrial Safety Corruption
More than 2,400 people were caught in a special police crackdown on recruitment corruption in the public and private sectors, as well as construction and industrial safety corruption.
The National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters announced on the 21st that from May to October this year, they conducted a special crackdown on 'recruitment and safety corruption,' uncovering 1,197 cases and referring 2,489 related individuals to prosecution.
The special crackdown on recruitment corruption targeted 1,364 public institutions, including private businesses or workplaces employing 30 or more workers, 350 government, local governments, and central public institutions, 678 local public institutions, and 336 other public-related organizations. As a result of this operation, 137 cases were uncovered, and 978 related individuals (26 detained) were handed over to the prosecution.
By sector, the private sector accounted for most with 914 people (21 detained), while the public sector had 64 people (5 detained). Based on the crackdown criteria, 749 people (76.6%) were involved in abuse of superior position for employment, 190 people (19.4%) in obstruction of recruitment and personnel affairs, and 39 people (4%) in recruitment profiteering.
Twenty people, including public officials from Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, and employees of a cultural foundation, were referred for obstructing audit work by the inspector general’s office after hiring seven unqualified candidates by relaxing career recognition standards. Seven professors from the Department of Music at Kyungpook National University were also referred to prosecution for colluding or leaking confidential information during the faculty recruitment process to hire specific candidates. In Gwangju, three people, including the chairman of the Gwangju local government labor union affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, were detained for receiving approximately 290 million KRW from six job seekers under the pretext of arranging employment for sanitation workers in five district offices.
The safety corruption crackdown targeted four major areas: industry, facilities, transportation, and fire, investigating a total of 1,060 cases and referring 1,511 people (8 detained) to prosecution. By sector, the number of referrals was 772 people (7 detained) in industry, 384 people (1 detained) in facilities, 283 people in transportation, and 72 people in fire. By target, poor safety management and inspection accounted for the largest number with 909 people (60.2%), followed by poor construction, manufacturing, and remodeling with 531 people (35.2%), and safety-related corruption such as bribery with 71 people (4.6%).
A construction company CEO and 69 others, including a public construction employee who assisted in the crime, were referred to prosecution for receiving a highway lane painting project through name lending and embezzling a total of 12.3 billion KRW by using low-cost, low-performance materials and performing substandard construction. Ten construction company executives were also caught providing gift certificates worth 200,000 to 3 million KRW annually during holidays to public officials and supervisors managing and supervising construction sites in exchange for convenience in apartment construction permits and handling civil complaints. The police referred a total of 47 people, including these 10 executives, 4 public officials who received gift certificates, and 33 supervisors.
Meanwhile, regarding the representative case of safety corruption, the 'Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) ordered apartment rebar omission' incident, the police are conducting investigations on a total of 21 apartment complexes upon requests from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and LH. The investigation requests were made three times and the cases were assigned to nine city and provincial police agencies, including those in northern Gyeonggi, Chungnam, southern Gyeonggi, Gyeongnam, Seoul, Incheon, Gwangju, Chungbuk, and Jeonbuk. The police plan to focus their investigative efforts not only on violations of construction-related laws during the construction process but also on various interest cartels arising from collusion with former officials and affiliated companies.
Yoon Hee-geun, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, stated, "We will continue to conduct regular crackdowns on recruitment and safety corruption," adding, "Next year, we will persistently identify planned investigation topics targeting corruption directly related to the lives and safety of the public and conduct strict investigations."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
