Inclusion of Local Sports Councils and Assemblies in Public Institution Integrity Survey

Public Institution Integrity Survey to be Conducted from August
'Proactive Administration' Item Added to This Year's Integrity Survey

Gyeongju City Sports Council, known for not properly investigating those involved in the death of the late triathlon athlete Choi Sook-hyun, recently underwent a prosecution investigation. Scene of Gyeongju City Sports Council. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced that this year, local sports councils and small-scale local councils with populations under 200,000 will be included in the public institution integrity assessment. Additionally, an 'active administration' element will be added to the integrity survey questionnaire.

The ACRC stated on the 28th that, for the '2020 Public Institution Integrity Assessment,' it plans to conduct a survey from next month through November targeting approximately 200,000 citizens and public officials who have experience with public institution work.

The public institution integrity assessment is a system that diagnoses the level of integrity by comprehensively evaluating the occurrence of corruption within institutions through surveys of citizens and public officials. It has been implemented since 2002.

This year, the assessment targets 723 public institutions, including central and local administrative agencies, offices of education, public official-related organizations, national and public universities, and public medical institutions.

Local sports councils and small-scale local councils with populations under 200,000 are newly included in the assessment targets.

This is to diagnose corruption vulnerabilities in the sports sector, as corruption issues in sports have emerged as a social concern.

Since multiple misconduct cases have recently occurred in local councils as well, they have been added to the evaluation targets.

Furthermore, this year's survey will include items related to 'active and responsible work processing' to strengthen the active administration element.

Previously, if a corruption incident occurred within an institution, up to 7% would be deducted from the overall integrity score. Since last year, penalties for passive administration have also been included in the deductions.

The weight of 'external integrity,' which is evaluated by citizens who have directly experienced public institution work, will also be expanded. This is intended to better reflect the voices of the public.

The ACRC will conduct the survey and analyze corruption incident data for the public institution integrity assessment from next month through November.

The results of individual institutions' integrity assessments are scheduled to be announced in December.

The integrity assessment results will be reflected as indicators in major public institution evaluations led by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Im Yoonju, Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau at the ACRC, emphasized, "This year, we are experiencing a significant period of change that fundamentally alters daily life. In such an environment, promoting integrity policies is essential for our society to take a step forward."

He added, "We ask for the public’s interest and cooperation so that the level of integrity in the public sector and the factors causing corruption can be accurately diagnosed and improved."

Source: Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

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