ACRC designated 5 - 11 December as Anti-Corruption Week… an array of anti-corruption cultural events where citizens and public officials participate to be held

- On 9 December, the 2019 Public Institution Integrity Assessment result to be announced and the 1st ‘Public Interest Whistle-Blowing Day’ commemoration ceremony to take place in Yongsan Art Hall, Seoul -

December 3, 2019

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

The Republic of Korea

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Pak Un Jong) hosted an array of anti-corruption public events in which citizens can participate during the week of 5 to 11 December 2019 designated as the “Anti-Corruption Week” in commemoration of the “International Anti-Corruption Day (9 December).”

On 9 December, the ACRC announced the result of the 2019 Public Institution Integrity Assessment while holding a variety of anti-corruption-themed cultural events and the first ceremony to commemorate the ‘Public Interest Whistle-Blowing Day’ in Yongsan Art Hall, Seoul with more than 700 people present, including members of the National Assembly and the Public-Private Consultative Council for Transparent Society, public officials and ordinary citizens, etc.

The ‘International Anti-Corruption Day’ was designated by the United Nations in commemoration of the signing ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) on 9 December, 2003 in Merida, Mexico.

The ACRC held multiple fun and heart-moving cultural events based around the theme of integrity during the Anti-Corruption Week.

More specifically, an ‘anti-corruption-themed play’ dramatizing actual cases of unfairness and discrimination that the youth in their 20’s and 30’s have experienced was on stage starting from 5 to 15 December at the Theater Naon in Daehangno, Seoul. The young people participated directly in the whole process from planning to scenario writing to performance of the play, in order to explore problems facing Korean society and seek ways to address them from the standpoint of the youth.

On 9 December, the result of the 2018 Public Institution Integrity Assessment to which 608 public institutions were subjected will be announced in the joint briefing room of the Government Complex-Seoul.

From 9 to 11 December, an ‘Anti-Corruption and Fair Hanmadang Festival’ under the theme ‘Going Together for Clean Korea’ took place in Yongsan Art Hall, Seoul. The event kicked off with ‘Challenge! Golden Bell for Public Officials’ in the morning and the 2019 Anti-Corruption Week Commemorative Event in the afternoon on 9 December with more than 700 people attending, including members of the National Assembly and the Public-Private Consultative Council for Transparent Society, citizens (e.g. the People’s Anti-Corruption Policy Watchdog, Policy Press Corps, etc.) and public officials.

In particular, in the Section I of the Festival, the 1st ‘Public Interest Whistle-Blowing Day’ Commemoration Ceremony took place with the progress report on the implementation of the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act being made and public interest whistleblowing-themed video clips being played. Various performances of support for the public interest whistle-blowing were also offered. In the Section II, the best practices of public institutions outstanding in promoting integrity were introduced.

In the morning on 10 December, a didactic puppet play on the theme of ‘honesty and accountability’ for preschoolers was staged, and the anti-corruption culture camp for high school senior students about to set out into the world after graduation was run to help them establish appropriate sense of morals. In the afternoon on this day, a special lecture I on the theme of integrity was given to citizens and public servants, and an information session on the Act on the Prohibition of the False Claims for Public Funds and the Recovery of Illicit Profits, which is in force from 1 January, 2020.

In the afternoon on 11 December, the Integrity Contents Contest Awards was held with awardees by areas of the Contest invited, and there was a special lecture II on the theme of Integrity. In addition, various programs prepared by each regional public institution to provide opportunities for participants to experience integrity were run throughout the whole period for which the ‘Anti-Corruption and Fair Hanmadang Festival’ was held. These programs allowed students and citizens, etc. to ponder upon the meaning of integrity naturally through participating in multiple hands-on activities, e.g. making integrity flowerpots and badges, integrity truth or dare and integrity laser shooting games.

Furthermore, there were workshops on the employment restriction system against those dismissed from office on grounds of committing corruption and irregularities, on the reinforcement of fair recruitment system in public service-related organizations in conjunction with the Ministry of Personnel Management, and on the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act for public relations officials of agencies of various levels on 5, 9, and 10 December, respectively. Between 25 November and 20 December, the EBS-ACRC Joint Anti-Corruption Campaign ‘the Cleanest Food Truck in the World’ was broadcast on terrestrial EBS TV channel.

The Chairperson of the ACRC Pak Un Jong said, “The Anti-Corruption Week provided the people with an opportunity to think about integrity and fairness and put them into action through making participation in a variety of cultural events easier and fun,” adding that “I expect the seeds of integrity and fairness could be widely spread throughout Korean society on the wings of the wind named Anti-Corruption Week.”