Gyeonggi-do Pays 42.35 Million KRW Compensation to Whistleblower of Illegal Subcontracting - First Case

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will pay a reward of 42.35 million won to a whistleblower who reported illegal subcontracting. This is the first case since Gyeonggi Province introduced the 'Public Interest Whistleblower Reward System' early last year.

On the 8th, Gyeonggi Province held the '2020 2nd Gyeonggi Province Public Interest Whistleblower Support Committee' and announced on the 10th that it decided to pay a reward of 42.35 million won to whistleblower A, who reported an illegal subcontracting construction company.

A reported company B that violated the Framework Act on the Construction Industry by illegally subcontracting to an unregistered construction business operator. Based on this report, the province imposed a fine of about 140 million won on the company and decided to pay 42.35 million won to A, who contributed to increasing the province's revenue.

The public interest whistleblower reward is paid at 30% of the financial revenue recovered or increased through fines or surcharges imposed due to internal whistleblowers' reports, without an upper limit.

In addition, the committee decided to pay a total of 16.22 million won in rewards to 94 people who brought financial benefits or promoted public interest to the province through administrative actions following reports of public interest violations.

Major cases include paying 1 million won to a person who reported a company illegally discharging environmental pollutants causing harm to nearby residents, and 400,000 won to a person who reported a company illegally managing hazardous materials.

Since the 7th local government administration, the province has amended the 'Gyeonggi Province Public Interest Whistleblower Protection and Support Ordinance' to eradicate illegal acts infringing on public interests such as environment, health, and safety by paying rewards and incentives to whistleblowers, striving to create a fair and just society.

Ha Young-min, the province's investigation officer, said, "The reward paid for the first time this time is meaningful in protecting and supporting internal whistleblowers who are highly likely to suffer disadvantages in status, personnel, or economic aspects due to public interest reports," adding, "We will continue efforts to root out illegal acts that infringe on public interest and cause unnecessary social costs by activating public interest whistleblowing through reward and incentive payments."

Meanwhile, since January last year, the province has opened the dedicated whistleblowing channel 'Gyeonggi Province Public Interest Whistleblower Hotline - Gongjeong Gyeonggi 2580 (hotline.gg.go.kr)' to receive reports on public interest violations and public official corruption. It also operates the 'Anonymous Lawyer Proxy Reporting System,' which allows reports under a lawyer's name for those who do not want to disclose their personal information due to fear of disadvantages from identity exposure.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.