All offences and privileges including tax evasion and college admission irregularities to be traced until the end

President Moon expressed his strong will to fight corruption in the fourth meeting of the Anti-Corruption Policy Consultative Council

June 20, 2019

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

The Republic of Korea

President Moon Jae-in on June 20 presided over the fourth meeting of the Anti-Corruption Policy Consultative Council participated in by ministers and heads of relevant anti-corruption agencies, including the chairperson of the ACRC.

The president Moon reviewed the overall progress of the anti-corruption reform carried out in the first two years of his administration in conjunction with heads of relevant ministries. In the meeting, they all agreed to further strengthen countermeasures against blind spots where the public administration had not been able to reach in the course of its pursuit of anti-corruption drive or against areas the reform of which fell short of the public expectations.

The president and ministers came to a consensus on the need for a permanent anti-corruption reform, as they all evaluated that the perceptions of the international community of the level of transparency and integrity in Korea has significantly improved since the launch of the new administration, by virtue of the Moon administration’s unwavering push for the institutional improvement and investigation without sanctuary allowing no one to be exempted from law enforcement.

※ Corruption Perceptions Index: 57 points, 45th in the global ranking (up six notches from last year), Confidence in National Government released by the OECD: 32nd in 2017 → 25th in 2018

In the meeting, participants discussed countermeasures against malicious tax evasion or arrear of taxes by the affluent with luxurious lifestyle, and illegalities of various kinds taking place in long-term care facilities for the elderly. Measures to strengthen accounting transparency in educational foundations were also high on the agenda.

With respect to the matter of how to stamp out newly emerging type of tax evasion or anomalies, and delinquency by those who default on their taxes while leading a sumptuous lifestyle, all participants agreed that the whole-of-government countermeasures against such malicious delinquent taxpayers should be more strictly implemented, while various institutional improvement measures need to be swiftly taken in order to realize tax fairness and justice.

※ ‘The whole-of-government countermeasures against malicious tax delinquents who have a lavish lifestyle’ were jointly announced by relevant ministries on June 5, 2019.

On the other hand, participants focused their discussions on how to eradicate irregularities taking place in care facilities for the elderly, including embezzlement as well as illicit claims for medical treatment expenses. In addition, measures to prevent elder abuse and improve the quality of care services were discussed.

Lastly, participants talked over the possibility of setting up the college admission-related corruption reporting center within the ACRC and revising the Private School Act, along with other various ways to enhance accounting transparency and audit system in school foundations, such as disclosure of financial information (e.g. business operating expenses) and reinforcement of audit and supervision, etc. of private schools.