LH Integrity and Anti-Corruption Efforts Fail... Anti-Corruption Commission Strengthens Recurrence Prevention Evaluation Indicators

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Announces Basic Plan for This Year's Anti-Corruption Policy Evaluation
New Evaluation Indicators Introduced...Thorough Education on Conflict of Interest Prevention and Public Finance Recovery
Comprehensive Evaluation of Public Enterprises like LH, Central Administrative Agencies, and Metropolitan Local Governments
Includes Basic Local Governments with Populations Over 400,000
Results to Be Announced by End of January Next Year...Mandatory Posting on Website Within 14 Days After Announcement

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), which caused social controversy due to land speculation by its executives and employees, has received failing marks for its efforts to improve integrity. In response, the government has decided to deduct scores in the anti-corruption policy evaluation for public institutions that do not implement conflict of interest prevention education and do not establish dedicated organizations for the public finance recovery system starting this year.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced the "2021 Anti-Corruption Policy Evaluation Basic Plan" containing these details on the 24th. To prevent a recurrence of the LH employee speculation scandal, the scope of evaluated institutions will be expanded, and evaluation indicators related to conflict of interest and anti-corruption will be strengthened.

According to the ACRC, LH's policy evaluation rating slipped from Grade 1 in 2018 to Grade 3 in 2019, and Grade 4 last year. Its integrity rating was Grade 4 for three consecutive years during the same period. Considering that Grade 1 is the highest and Grade 5 is the lowest, this is effectively a failing grade. Therefore, the ACRC judged that it is necessary to enforce anti-corruption self-purification efforts in public institutions to prevent a "second LH incident."

This year, evaluation indicators related to conflict of interest and anti-corruption have been strengthened. First, points will be deducted if a dedicated organization for the public finance recovery system is not established. Failure to conduct conflict of interest prevention education, failure to establish integrity education courses at various training institutions, and negligence in responding to corruption issues are also subject to point deductions. The evaluation criteria for the institution head’s anti-corruption will and efforts, completion of integrity education by senior public officials, implementation of recommended system improvements, and compliance with whistleblower protection regulations have been strengthened compared to previous years.

The number of institutions subject to evaluation this year is 274, an increase of 11 from 263 last year. Evaluations will be conducted on public enterprises such as LH, central administrative agencies, metropolitan local governments, and education offices. Basic local governments with populations of 400,000 or more are also included in the evaluation. Internal and external expert evaluation teams from the ACRC will conduct document reviews and on-site inspections to assign scores. The results are expected to be announced around the end of January next year. The evaluated institutions must post the results on their websites for one month within 14 days from the announcement date.

Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairperson of the ACRC, said, "The LH incident has increased demands for inspection and improvement of corruption prevention systems in public institutions," and urged, "All levels of institutions should vigorously implement strong anti-corruption policies to ensure that the LH incident does not recur."

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