Seoul Jung-gu, Jungnang-gu, Seongdong-gu Mayors Take Direct Action to Improve Public Officials' Integrity
Jung-gu, Jungnang-gu, and Seongdong-gu in Seoul are carrying out various activities to improve the integrity of public officials.
Seoul’s autonomous districts are hosting events such as the Integrity Golden Bell and Integrity Communication Day to enhance the integrity of public officials.
Seoul Jung-gu Holds ‘Integrity Golden Bell’ at 2 PM on the 29th
Jung-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Kim Gil-seong) held the ‘Challenge! Integrity Golden Bell’ event on the 29th at Jung-gu Hall on the 7th floor of the main building. This was the second time the event was held in Jung-gu, with about 200 employees participating to demonstrate their commitment to integrity.
The Integrity Golden Bell competition covered laws such as the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, Public Officials Ethics Act, Anti-Graft Act, and Public Officials Code of Conduct. Using remote controls, participants answered multiple-choice and short-answer questions in individual and survival team formats.
Breaking away from traditional lecture-style education, the experiential quiz format sparked employees’ interest and engagement, enhancing the effectiveness of acquiring integrity knowledge. It was praised for organizing easily confusing points in a simple and fun way.
Notably, to boost employees’ commitment to integrity, the district mayor and deputy mayor directly supported the event. Deputy Mayor Lee Sang-hoon kicked off the Golden Bell with the first question on the recently revised Anti-Graft Act provisions. Mayor Kim Gil-seong appeared as the announcer to read the final question that would determine the winner, adding a grand finale to the event.
In the individual competition, Kim Ok-sim, a staff member from Euljiro-dong, was selected as the winner. In the subsequent team preliminaries, eight participants with high scores advanced to the final round. The last remaining participant was Shin Joo-hee from the Finance Department, who survived until the end and rang the Golden Bell.
The atmosphere on-site was intense. Each department’s cheering squad enthusiastically supported the participants, and cheers erupted every time a question was answered correctly. Scenes of participants sighing with heads bowed after narrowly missing answers and colleagues playfully giving hints highlighted the event’s role as a venue for employee harmony and communication.
A participating employee said, “Since there are many anti-corruption laws, it was easy to get confused and hard to grasp, but the key points were highlighted, making it easy to understand,” adding, “I will take the lead in fostering a culture of integrity in public service going forward.”
In July, Jung-gu established an Integrity Policy Team under the Audit Officer to improve corruption-prone areas and enhance overall integrity to boost trust in district administration through various policies. As the meaning of integrity expands and becomes more important, the aim is to regularly reflect on integrity as public officials and foster a culture of integrity in public service.
Mayor Kim Gil-seong of Jung-gu said, “Thanks to our employees working with integrity, residents seem to trust the district administration, and I am grateful to the staff,” adding, “I hope everyone continues to work together to practice ethical administration that earns trust.”
Jungnang-gu Holds ‘Integrity Communication Day’ Event for Chuseok
Jungnang-gu (District Mayor Ryu Gyeong-gi) held an Integrity Communication Day event on the 29th in celebration of the Chuseok holiday, with the district mayor participating directly.
The ‘Integrity Communication Day’ event is an ongoing integrity activity promoted by the district to inform residents about efforts to prevent corruption in public service and to spread anti-corruption and integrity commitment. It has been held once a month during the last week of each month in the lobby on the first floor of the district office since March.
At the event, an integrity campaign and an integrity counseling booth were operated. The campaign distributed leaflets explaining the Anti-Graft Act, Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, and Public Finance Recovery Act, delivering the district’s integrity message to visitors. The counseling booth provided time to answer questions about integrity policies for employees and residents.
Especially, ahead of the Chuseok holiday, Mayor Ryu Gyeong-gi personally promoted the prohibition of solicitation and bribery and the Public Official Misconduct Reporting Center, participating in the operation of ‘Integrity Communication Day.’ This reinforced the commitment to making Jungnang-gu more integrity-driven and encouraged the spread of an integrity culture within the organization.
Mayor Ryu Gyeong-gi of Jungnang-gu said, “To improve administrative satisfaction and resolve chronic complaints, it is necessary to enhance residents’ trust in public service,” adding, “We will do our best to create a top-tier integrity Jungnang-gu based on communication and empathy with both residents and employees, fostering a culture of mutual respect and consideration.”
The district is striving to spread an integrity culture through various policy projects such as forming and operating the Integrity Jungnang Policy Promotion Team, integrity education with residents, integrity empathy quizzes for employees, Integrity Live education, and strengthening the operation of the Public Officials Code of Conduct.
Jung Won-oh, Seongdong-gu Mayor, Yoo Bo-hwa, Deputy Mayor, and Other Executives Take Integrity Pledge Ceremony
Seongdong-gu, Seongdong District Mayor Jeong Won-o’s Integrity Essay Broadcast
Seongdong-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Jeong Won-o) broadcasts an ‘Integrity, Embracing in Sound’ integrity program within the district office during Integrity Week on the last Wednesday of every month to raise employees’ sensitivity to integrity.
At 8:50 AM on the 28th, an integrity essay read by Mayor Jeong Won-o was broadcast in the Seongdong district office, capturing employees’ attention. The essay emphasized the importance of making integrity choices by reminding listeners of social values such as trust and respect from colleagues lost due to corrupt decisions.
The district selects outstanding integrity essays written by employees based on their experiences or thoughts related to integrity in daily life and introduces them through the integrity broadcast.
The essays are recorded in the voice of the respective employee, adding a special touch. After the broadcast, the essay is posted on the integrity bulletin board, sparking keen interest among employees trying to identify the voice’s owner while listening. Moreover, since the essays are based on employees’ direct experiences, they resonate strongly with the staff.
Seongdong-gu focuses on enhancing integrity sensitivity permeating daily life to realize a corruption-free and integrity-driven district administration, promoting various participatory integrity policies under the theme ‘Integrity Sensitivity Enhancement Project: Seongdong-gu, Embracing Integrity.’
This project involves all employees and includes programs such as the ‘Integrity Broadcast,’ where employees share integrity-related anecdotes from daily life in essay form; the ‘Integrity Pledge Ceremony,’ where employees commit to fair and honest work; and the ‘Integrity Book Review Relay,’ where employees share their thoughts through one-line reviews of integrity-related books.
Notably, in February, all departments of Seongdong-gu Office wrote integrity pledges to foster an integrity public service culture. In June, 29 leaders including the district mayor, deputy mayor, and department heads led by example by holding an integrity pledge ceremony to reaffirm their commitment.
From May to July, the district operated the ‘Integrity Book Review Relay,’ where employees read integrity books and shared their impressions and thoughts through reviews. The novel ‘Jenga,’ selected as an integrity book by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, was provided to each department, offering an opportunity to indirectly experience workplace corruption.
The book review relay saw voluntary participation from employees, submitting a total of 55 reviews. These were posted in relay form on the integrity bulletin board three times, with 20 outstanding reviews receiving separate awards.
An employee who participated in the review relay said, “Writing the review after reading the integrity book gave me time to reflect on myself and the organization,” while Mayor Jeong Won-o also participated, leaving a review stating, “Just as a person being alive does not mean they are free from illness, an organization not yet collapsed does not mean it has no holes. It requires our own efforts to patch those holes.”
Mayor Jeong Won-o of Seongdong-gu said, “Based on a tightly established anti-corruption legal framework and system, we are striving to raise each public official’s integrity mindset,” adding, “By encouraging employees to participate in various integrity policies, we will continue to spread an integrity culture.”
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