National Pension Service Implements Strong Reform Measures to Practice Ethical Management

Kim Yong-jin, Chairman of the National Pension Service / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The National Pension Service (NPS) is accelerating reform measures to practice ethical management.

On the 22nd, the NPS held the 9th Emergency Safety Management Committee meeting and convened the 'NPS Reform Promotion Committee' to review the progress of the pension reform measures, the agency announced on the 24th.

The Reform Promotion Committee is an ad hoc body established to thoroughly monitor the implementation of reform measures. Chaired by Chairman Kim Yong-jin, it is composed of executives and department heads. In December last year, the NPS announced reform measures consisting of 60 tasks in three major areas to enhance public trust: ▲ fostering the highest professional ethics ▲ strengthening global expertise ▲ promoting innovation and application of new technologies.

As of the first quarter of 2021, the Reform Promotion Committee has completed 24 tasks, achieving 100% of the first quarter target. The NPS plans to complete most of the tasks by the first half of this year.

Looking at the main contents of the reform tasks, the NPS introduced strict reputation checks conducted by professional firms in the recruitment process for fund management positions, and included public service discipline-related items in the performance evaluations of fund management staff.

Additionally, organizational and regulatory improvements were made to strengthen internal control functions. Previously, the Compliance Support Office performed compliance monitoring for fund management, while compliance monitoring for systems and institutional operations was dispersed among the Human Resources Innovation Office, Audit Office, and others. Through this reorganization, the Compliance Support Office now directly selects and manages external members of the Domestic Entrusted Fund Management Selection Committee, thereby expanding the scope of fund management behavior inspections. In the institutional area, a dedicated Ethics Management Department was established to perform compliance monitoring functions, establishing a multi-layered inspection system to prevent misconduct.

Strong disciplinary measures and preventive systems have also been established for serious misconduct and incidents. For six major serious offenses with significant social impact?sexual misconduct, bribery and entertainment acceptance, embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, recruitment misconduct, drunk driving, and drug offenses?the zero-tolerance principle is applied. A "one-strike-out" system has been introduced, which expels individuals from the organization even after a single violation. Along with this, for serious crimes such as recruitment misconduct, personnel sanctions can be imposed solely based on prosecution by the public prosecutor, and the disciplinary statute of limitations has been extended; in cases of sexual misconduct, a 10-year statute of limitations now applies, following recent amendments to personnel regulations.

In January, the compensation regulations were also revised to restrict performance bonuses for those disciplined for misconduct and to calculate retirement pay based on reduced compensation.

The NPS has also established a 'Public Service Discipline Warning System' as a proactive measure to raise employees' awareness and prevent various violations when misconduct occurs or signs of misconduct are evident. During periods when public service discipline may be lax, such as holidays, vacation seasons, and year-end, or when violations occur within the institution, warnings are issued in three stages?interest, caution, and serious?depending on the situation.

Kim Yong-jin, Chairman of the NPS, stated, "We will do our best to become an organization trusted by the public and bringing happiness to the people through continuous monitoring of reform task implementation via the Reform Committee."

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