Asan City Strives to Achieve Top Grade 1 in Comprehensive Integrity Evaluation

"Top Nationwide Demand for Urban Development, Leaving No Room for Doubt"
Low Internal Satisfaction Last Year, Actively Improving

Asan City in Chungnam is putting all its efforts into achieving a Grade 1 rating in the 2024 Comprehensive Integrity Evaluation conducted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.

Not only aiming to achieve the first-ever Grade 1 rating in the city's administrative history, but also reflecting the fact that the demand for urban development such as industrial complexes and apartment complexes currently underway is among the highest nationwide, the city is determined to leave no room for any suspicion in the execution of various administrative powers.

In particular, Mayor Park Kyung-gwi is leading the charge at the forefront of achieving the 'Grade 1 Integrity Evaluation' and encouraging public officials.

At the 'Public Officials Integrity Pledge Ceremony' held last February, he declared, "We will challenge ourselves to achieve a Grade 1 rating in the Comprehensive Integrity Evaluation by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission," and at the expanded executive meeting held on the 6th of March, he quoted the famous integrity saying of Yulgok Yi I, emphasizing, "We must overcome any temptation and solicitation."

The city plans to focus on improving internal perception as a concrete measure to achieve the Grade 1 comprehensive integrity rating.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission's comprehensive integrity score is announced by summing scores from △Integrity Perception (surveys of internal and external parties) △Integrity Effort (policy implementation evaluation) △Corruption Status (deductions). Last year, Asan's external perception score was 87.6 points, whereas the internal perception score among employees was low at 65.6 points.

This is analyzed as an internal evaluation indicating suspicions of favoritism among employees and unfair personnel practices even within the internal perception. Additionally, in the external perception, 'passive administration' was the most vulnerable area. In the integrity effort category, scores for 'focused improvement in corruption-prone areas' and 'enhancement of self-inspection efforts for fraudulent public finance claims' were also relatively low.

Accordingly, the city plans to focus on improving these vulnerable areas.

First, by commissioning a professional organization, the city will complete a 'self-integrity survey' this month to improve corruption-prone areas and prepare improvement plans through expert consultations.

To enhance internal perception, the city will operate a 'Junior-Senior Board Innovation Meeting' to foster communication and improve organizational culture between MZ generation public officials below grade 7 and senior officials at grade 6 or above. Additionally, an anonymous 'Personnel and Organization Suggestion Box' has been established as a communication channel regarding personnel and organizational restructuring.

Along with this, as an external perception improvement policy, the 'Mansahyeongtong System' will be fully launched, and the 'Citizen Ombudsman System' will be actively promoted. Furthermore, △a 'Integrity Improvement Measures Meeting' involving integrity citizen auditors and heads of organizations △'Pre-consultation' to guarantee proactive administration △and a 'Value-Added Tax Task Force' for recovery and management of fraudulent public finance claims will be organized.

Yoo Ji-sang, Chairperson of the City Audit Committee, said, "Although we received a Grade 2 last year, our internal score was very close to Grade 1," and added, "We will strive to root integrity not just as a system but as a part of daily life."