Local Councils to Curb 'Excessive Awards and Long-Term Reappointments'... Anti-Corruption Commission Recommends Improvements

1411 Cases of Corruption-Inducing Factors Recommended for Improvement

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced on the 4th that it conducted a corruption impact assessment on ordinances and other autonomous regulations of 86 basic local councils and issued improvement recommendations for 1,411 corruption-inducing factors.

According to the ACRC's findings, some local councils were found to have corruption-inducing factors such as excessive awarding and award solicitation by not setting an upper limit on the value of awards given to affiliated public officials and citizens or by omitting merit-based evaluations when promoting awards. Accordingly, the ACRC analyzed and reviewed corruption-inducing factors in laws, autonomous regulations, and internal regulations of public institutions and local public corporations under the Public Institution Operation Act.

The ACRC recommended setting an upper limit on prize money, plaques, or awards to ensure compliance with the Public Official Election Act when granting awards, and reflecting the composition of merit review committees and evaluation regulations in the ordinances. Additionally, it advised excluding ineligible recipients from award targets and establishing grounds and procedures to cancel awards obtained through fraudulent means.

Yoo Cheol-hwan, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, is performing the national ceremony at the 2024 Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission National Council held on the 21st of last month.
[Photo by Heo Young-han]

Another example of corruption-inducing factors identified was that some local councils appointed professors or lawyers as advisors for legislative activities without limiting long-term reappointments, which could lead to favoritism such as monopolizing work for specific individuals or collusion between public and private sectors based on personal relationships.

The ACRC introduced regulations to limit the reappointment of advisors in local councils to prevent corruption and lower entry barriers for other experts. Furthermore, it improved various corruption-inducing factors, including prohibiting subsidies for activities unrelated to residents' rights or obligations such as legislative alumni associations, establishing prior review criteria for overseas trips by local council members, disciplining improper users of travel expenses, and mandating the recovery of travel expenses.

Jung Seung-yoon, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the ACRC, stated, "The corruption impact assessment of autonomous regulations began in 2022 with 79 basic cities, counties, and districts, followed by evaluations of 17 metropolitan cities/provinces and 61 autonomous districts last year, and will be completed this year with 86 basic local governments as the final group."