Efforts Should be Exerted to Eradicate Corrupt Practices Personally Encountered by Civil Petitioners and Public Officials

- Public institutions’ efforts to prevent corruption have led to an overall improvement in their respective comprehensive integrity levels

- ACRC released the 2023 Public Institution Integrity Assessment Results

(28 Dec. 2023, ACRC)

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced the results of the ‘2023 Comprehensive Integrity Assessment of Public Institutions,’ which comprehensively evaluated the integrity levels of 498 administrative agencies and related public entities.

The results of the 2023 Comprehensive Integrity Assessment was derived by combining the scores of: ▲ the “Integrity Perception Index” the result of which is based on the survey of approximately 224,000 participants, including 157,000 citizens with experience in public institutions and 67,000 public officials working in those institutions; ▲ the “Integrity Effort Index,” which assesses the anti-corruption efforts undertaken by various institutions over the past year; and ▲ the “Corruption Status Index,” which evaluates the occurrence of corruption incidents in the public institutions.

The overall integrity score for administrative agencies and public organizations in 2023 decreased by 0.7 points compared to the previous year, reaching 80.5 points. While the integrity effort score remained at the same level as the previous year, at 82.2 points, the perceived integrity score dropped, leading to a decline in the overall integrity score.

By institution, 123 institutions saw an increase in their overall integrity grade compared to the last year, while 134 institutions experienced a decline. The number of institutions in the top grade decreased from 28 in 2022 to 16 in 2023.

The public institution that showed an increase of three or more grades in overall integrity level compared to last year was Pocheon-si in Gyeonggi Province. Additionally, 41 institutions, including the Korea Meteorological Administration and the Ministry of Personnel Management, experienced an increase of two or more grades.

In the area of perceived integrity, Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education and Gyeongsangbuk-do Development Corporation, both of which were in the 5th grade in 2022, have ascended by 4 grades, achieving Grade 1 in perceived integrity. Furthermore, in the pursuit of anti-corruption policies, five institutions demonstrated significant progress in their integrity efforts, each experiencing a three-grade increase. These institutions are the Public Procurement Service, Gimje-si in Jeonbuk Province, Songpa-gu in Seoul, Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation, and Korea National Oil Corporation.

In particular, only six institutions have achieved Grade 1 in the overall integrity assessment for two consecutive years. These excellent institutions include: the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Yeoju-si in Gyeonggi Province, Gyeongju-si in the North Gyeongsang Province, Boseong-gun in the South Jeolla Province, Buyeo-gun in the South Chungcheong Province, and Guro-gu in Seoul. In the area of perceived integrity, only the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation secured Grade 1, while in the integrity effort domain, only the National Health Insurance Service achieved Grade 1 for the second consecutive year.

Assessment of Integrity Perception

The external integrity perception level, evaluated directly by 157,000 complainants with experience of public services provided by the public institutions, slightly decreased compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the internal integrity perception level, assessed by 67,000 public officials, showed a slight improvement.

However, it appeared that the internal perception level was significantly lower* than the external perception level, indicating the need for measures to eradicate corrupt practices in the internal operational processes of the public institutions.

* External perception score (87.0 points, down 3.3 points from last year), Internal perception score (63.3 points, up 0.7 points from last year)

When examining specific items related to integrity perception, external complainants gave the lowest evaluation to 'Lack of transparency in the standards and procedures of public institution business processing (86.8 points).' Internal public officials, on the other hand, gave a very low score to 'Special favors granted due to personal relationships or personal interests (55.4 points).'

The percentage of complainants who experienced corruption in the business processing with public institutions was 0.42%, while the percentage of internal officials who experienced corruption in internal processes was 1.99%, more than four times higher than the complainants' experience rate.

The areas of work where the proportion of complainants with corruption experience was very high, exceeding 5%, were 11 in total, including finance, taxation, and subsidy support, all of which were the basic tasks of local governments. Even in the detailed analysis of the task of local governments subject to the integrity assessment, the area where the corruption experience rate increased the most compared to the previous year was 'subsidy support' for both metropolitan and provincial governments. It was evident that urgent measures to enhance the soundness and transparency of public finances were needed.

Assessment of Integrity Efforts

The score for the Integrity Efforts of 498 public institutions was 82.2 points. Public institutions of various levels faithfully implemented customized anti-corruption action plans of their own, including the tasks of improving corruption-prone areas, etc. given the characteristics of their tasks and members.

In particular, in order to strengthen transparency in the hiring process of non-civil servants in public institutions, 87.9% of the 306 central administrative agencies, local governments, and metropolitan and provincial offices of education reflected "the Standard Criteria for Fair Non-Civil Service Recruitment" which provides for matters to be complied by public institutions in each stage of the hiring processes into their own recruitment rules, etc.

Among the 192 public service-related organizations evaluated this time, 98.4% have actively pushed ahead with national tasks by stipulating routine audits of the recruitment process in their internal audit regulations.

On the other hand, among the institutions rated as Grade 4 and 5 in the Comprehensive Integrity Assessment last year, 13 out of 24 institutions that received integrity consulting from the ACRC showed an improvement in their overall integrity ratings. In particular, Pocheon-si in Gyeonggi Province achieved a three-grade increase in the Comprehensive Integrity Assessment through the integrity consulting and transformed into an outstanding institution.

The anti-corruption efforts of public institutions have resulted in actual improvements in their overall integrity levels. Statistical analysis reveals that institutions with higher anti-corruption efforts in the previous year demonstrated excellent results in this year's comprehensive integrity scores, indicating that the efforts exerted by public institutions at all levels continue to show sustained effects.

Assessment of the Current Status of Corrupt Public Officials

Cases where corrupt acts are detected by external organizations such as the ACRC, supervisory agencies, prosecution, and police, resulting in disciplinary action, prosecution, and conviction, lead to deductions of up to 10 points in the Comprehensive Integrity Assessment. This year, 531 corruption incidents resulted in deductions in 160 institutions. By type of corruption, misappropriation of public funds and embezzlement accounted for 36.3%, bribery for 17.5%, and improper solicitations for 8.1%, indicating that corruption incidents related to monetary bribery and improper solicitations still constitute a significant proportion.

Major cases of deductions include: demanding money from subordinates by abusing high-ranking positions and providing personnel and contractual favors (A public service-related organization); incidents involving bribery and corruption related to promotions to high-ranking posts, as well as bid and contract irregularities (B public service-related organization); and disciplinary actions against 139 employees who received license allowances based on fraudulently obtained certifications (C public service-related organization).

The results of the Comprehensive Integrity Assessment will be made public to the citizens through the official websites of the ACRC and the respective institutions. For public enterprises and quasi-governmental institutions, the results will be reflected in the Ministry of Economy and Finance's evaluation of public institution management. Additionally, improvement measures for areas identified as vulnerable to corruption, pointed out by complainants and public officials, will be ly developed by each institution and prioritized for implementation.

The ACRC plans to conduct focused inspections in collaboration with government agencies on institutions revealed to be vulnerable to corruption in this assessment, and also intends to provide diverse support, including anti-corruption education and integrity consulting, for a year.

The ACRC Vice Chairperson and Secretary General Chung Seung-yun stated, "While the enforcement of laws such as the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act has significantly improved the integrity level in the public sector, citizens still experience corruption first hand in the internal and external processes of public institutions," emphasizing that "based on the results of this assessment, we will implement strong anti-corruption measures for vulnerable institutions and thoroughly eradicate lingering corrupt practices in the public sector."