Legislative bill for Act on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Activities of Public Officials that passed Cabinet Meeting on June 23 to be resubmitted to 21st National Assembly

- The legislative bill introduced eight codes of conduct for public officials, e.g. Reporting on persons with whom they have personal relationships and private transactions with duty-related parties, etc. -

June 23, 2020

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

The Republic of Korea

The legislative bill for the Act on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Public Office, which aims to prevent public officials from seeking unjust private gains and secure fairness in the performance of duty, was resubmitted to the 21st National Assembly.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced that the legislative bill for the Act on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Public Office (hereinafter referred to as “the bill”) that failed to be processed during the 20th National Assembly passed the Cabinet meeting on June 23 and was resubmitted to the National Assembly. As the standing committee of the National Assembly is formed, discussion on the Bill is expected to begin in earnest.

The ACRC has been pushing for the enactment of the bill since last year under the recognition of its necessity to prevent corruption and increase transparency and reliability in the public officialdom.

However, the government bill that was submitted in January this year was repealed as the National Assembly session was terminated, and thus the ACRC swiftly got down to the legislation process for the bill in line with the opening of the new National Assembly session by selecting the bill as the one the enactment of which needs to be immediately processed and pre-announcing its legislation again last month.

The bill includes eight specific standards of behavior that public officials should comply with in order to improve fairness in the process of performance of official duties.

More specifically, public officials who performs duties, such as permission, license, approval, interrogation, inspection, budgeting, funding, investigation, trial, employment, promotion, and audit, etc., should disclose the fact that he/she has private interests with a duty-related party to the head of his/her agency within five days after he/she came to know such fact and should request that he/she be excluded from performing the duty concerned.

In addition, in order to prohibit illegitimate transactions between public officials and duty-related parties, where a public official is involved in transactions of money, marketable securities and immovable property, etc. with duty-related parties, he/she should disclose it to the head of his/her agency.

If public officials do not report in advance their private interests or private transactions of money, etc. with their duty-related parties to their institutions, a penalty of up to KRW 20 million(USD 16000) will be imposed.

This Bill particularly stipulates that much stricter preventive rules would apply to high-ranking officials and those in charge of duties especially vulnerable to corruption, including personnel management and contracting, etc.

High-ranking officials, including public officials of the vice-minister or higher level, members of the National Assembly, heads of the local governments, and heads of public service-related organizations and public institutions, will have to submit detailed statements of their private sector activities they performed for the past three years preceding the date of their appointment to, or commencement of, their office to the head of the agency to which they are affiliated.

If high-ranking officials do not submit such statements, he/she will be charged a fine not exceeding KRW 10 million(USD 8000).

Furthermore, public institutions will be prohibited from employing family members of high-ranking public officials belonging to the institutions or family members of those in charge of personnel affairs in the institutions, except the case where job candidates go through competitive hiring procedures, such as merit-based systems of recruitment carried out through open competition or screening of the candidate’s existing professional experience. In addition, public institutions shall be prohibited from entering into private contracts with high-ranking officials belonging thereto and public officials responsible for contracting affairs, or their spouse/their lineal ascendants/descendants living together.

If high-ranking public officials or those in charge of recruitment affairs order or induce their subordinates to hire or sign a private contract with, or acquiesce in hiring or signing a private contract with, their family members in the public institutions to which they are affiliated without competitive recruitment procedures, they will be charged a fine not exceeding KRW 30 million(USD 25000).

The bill also includes a provision aimed at prohibiting public officials from conducting outside activities that may impede their fair performance of duties, such as an act of privately giving advice to duty-related parities for a quid pro quo, and using goods, vehicles, land and facilities, etc. of public agencies for private gain.

On top of this, public officials will be strictly prohibited from divulging or misappropriating any secret that may have come to his/her knowledge in the performance of his/her duty for private gains, or banned from letting a third person use such secret.

The Bill includes provisions for the confiscation of, or the collection in addition to, the total amount of profits derived by public officials from using such secret, along with the punishment with imprisonment of not more than seven years or a fine not exceeding KRW 70 million(USD 58000). The punishment for divulgence or misappropriation of any secret which may have come to the public officials’ knowledge has been more reinforced. For instance, imprisonment of not more than three years or a fine not exceeding KRW 30 million(USD 25000) will be imposed even where profits had not been actually generated.

The ACRC　Chairperson emphasized that “the Act on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Activities of Public Official is an institutional tool that we must have in order to advance integrity in the public sector one level higher,” adding that “when the agenda on the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act was first presented to the National Assembly in 2013, the provisions regarding conflicts of interest were the most central part. As the general public have high expectations of this legislative bill, we will actively respond in the examination process of the bill by the Standing Committee so that advanced anti-corruption system which meets the higher standard of the public can be introduced in the 21st National Assembly.”