Rep. Lee Hyung-seok Proposes Amendment to the Public Officials Ethics Act to Prevent Real Estate Corruption

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Rep. Lee Hyung-seok (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Buk-gu Eul) announced on the 23rd that he has introduced a bill to amend the "Public Officials Ethics Act" to prevent real estate corruption.

Rep. Lee stated, "It has recently been confirmed that some public officials engaged in real estate speculation using insider information, causing anger and disappointment among the public," and explained the purpose of the amendment, saying, "We must block corruption in the public service and restore the trust of the people."

The amendment to the Public Officials Ethics Act expands the obligation to register assets to include public officials and employees of public-related organizations involved in real estate-related work, and includes provisions to prevent the disclosure of confidential information obtained through official duties to third parties, thereby preventing unjust gains by the officials themselves or third parties.

The current Public Officials Ethics Act only states that "public officials shall not acquire money or property benefits by using confidential information obtained through their duties."

Therefore, there remains a possibility that information could be leaked to third parties such as relatives of public officials.

Accordingly, Rep. Lee added a provision to prevent the disclosure of confidential information obtained through official duties to third parties, ensuring that neither the official nor the third party can obtain unjust gains.

Meanwhile, on the 17th, the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee passed an amendment to the Public Officials Ethics Act to expand the obligation to register assets to all LH employees.

Regarding this, Rep. Lee said, "During the review of the bill by the Public Administration and Security Committee, there was a limitation in that public officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and local governments, who actually formulate real estate policies, were not explicitly included in the law," and added, "To address this, I prepared an amendment to expand the obligation to register assets to public officials and employees of public-related organizations involved in real estate-related work."

He added, "With the expansion of the obligation to register assets and the strengthening of the prohibition on disclosure of confidential information obtained through official duties, this amendment will provide an opportunity to fundamentally block corruption in the public service."

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