Raise the Lowest Integrity Level... Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly Introduces Overseas Business Trip Consulting and Integrity Ombudsman

Gyeonggi Provincial Government and Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly

The Gyeonggi Provincial Council, ranked at the bottom in integrity, is introducing 'pre-consultation for overseas business trips' and an 'Integrity Ombudsman' to enhance its integrity.

To prevent controversies over frivolous overseas business trips by public officials, the council plans to conduct pre-consultations from the planning stage of trips and establish follow-up measures to ensure that the outcomes of the trips are integrated into legislative and provincial administration activities.

Additionally, the council will introduce an Integrity Ombudsman who will perform auditing, evaluation, and advisory roles regarding corruption acts and integrity measures throughout legislative activities, with related ordinances to be enacted in the first half of this year.

At the upcoming extraordinary session next month, the council will push for amendments to the 'Ordinance on Payment of Legislative Activity Expenses for Gyeonggi Provincial Council Members' and the 'Ordinance on Standards and Disclosure of Business Promotion Expenses of Gyeonggi Provincial Council' to establish grounds for preventing fraudulent receipt of domestic travel expenses and strengthen sanctions against improper use of business promotion expenses.

The council will also expand integrity education for council members from once a year to four times a year and hold a council members' integrity declaration ceremony.

Earlier, on the 4th, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced the '2023 Comprehensive Integrity Evaluation' of 92 local councils (17 metropolitan councils and 75 basic councils), in which the Gyeonggi Provincial Council received the lowest rating of grade 5.