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Citizens choose 10 greatest public interest whistleblowers in Korea
- Date2018-12-04
- Hit635
Citizens choose 10 greatest public interest whistleblowers in Korea
December 4, 2018
Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission
The Republic of Korea
The 10 greatest public interest whistleblowers who contributed to changing Korean society, were selected by citizens. They included a whistleblower who disclosed Defense Security Command’s illegal inspection on civilians. In order to acknowledge and honor the contribution made by such whistleblowers to the society, the first Whistleblower Day was celebrated on December 5th.
At the ceremony, ACRC announced the “10 greatest public interest whistleblowers who changed Korean”, who were selected by the citizens with the support of Whistleblower Foundation, a whistleblower supporting civil organization.
They were selected through an online voting by citizens on ACRC’s people’s idea box (idea. epeope.go.kr), a communication channel with the public from November 19 to 27.
ACRC, in recognition and honoring of the great contributions made by the whistleblowers to the society, declares the December 5th as Whistleblower Day
The selected 10 whistleblowers included those who reported cases of stopping inspection of real estate speculation by jae-bol affiliates due to superior’s order, and media control guidance by the Chun Doo-whan administration.
Other selected whistleblowers were those who blowed a whistle on slush funds and defective auto parts, which are rarely uncovered without an insider’s reporting, thereby contributing to a transparent business environment, a whistleblower who disclosed problems in the military, which is quite difficult to disclosed due to the nature of the organization, and a whistlblower who reported sexual violence, triggering MeToo movement* in Korea.
* A social movement where victims of sexual violences disclose their experiences of such violence through Social Networking Services(SNS)
Pak Un Joung, Chairperson of ACRC said,”Whistleblowers shed a light on issues hidden in our society ranging from grand corruption to day to day corruption issues. She added, “I hope that whistleblowers’ contribution could be better recognized throughout the society, ing more people to come forward without hesitation”
< 1 greatest whistleblowers who changed Korea by year >
Year | Contents of Whistleblowing Report |
1986 | Chun Doo-whan administration’s Press Guidance to control the media |
1990 | Defense Security Command’s illegal inspection on civilians |
1990 | Stopping inspection on a real estate speculation committed by a chaebol affiliate due to superior’s order |
1992 | Absentee voting fraud within military during an Assembly election |
2007 | Samsung Group’s borrowed-name accounts, slush funds, bribes to prosecutors |
2009 | Corruption in arms procurement by Navy officials |
2016 | First reporting on state affair meddling by president’s confidante in the former administration |
2017 | Hyundai motors, knowing defective auto parts, did not take any measures to address them. |
2017 | Disclosure to the media s containing DAS Corp’s beneficial ownership, inheritance taxes, and return of investment made in BBK |
2018 | Disclosure to the media experience of sexual harassment, triggering MeToo movement in Korea |