Integrity Evaluation for Seongbuk-gu Senior Officials of Grade 5 and Above

For the first time this year to create a transparent and clean public service culture... Randomly selected employees from evaluation groups of senior, peer, and junior staff undergo integrity assessment

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Seung-ro) is conducting an integrity evaluation for senior officials to maintain the integrity of key organizational leaders and encourage them to set an example, thereby fostering a transparent and clean public service culture.

The evaluation, held from the 3rd to the 10th, is being conducted for the first time this year to improve Seongbuk-gu's integrity. It targets 64 senior officials at grade 5 or above, including heads of departments, offices, and neighborhoods.

The purpose is to enhance the personal integrity of senior officials, set an example for employees, create an organizational atmosphere of integrity practice, and ultimately implement administration trusted by residents. Through this, the plan is to increase internal integrity and prevent corruption and improper work instructions.

The evaluation panel consists of supervisors, peers, and subordinates. After forming the evaluation groups, randomly selected employees diagnose the integrity of the evaluation subjects based on their behavior over the past year.

The survey consists of 20 questions covering four areas: ▲fair job performance ▲prohibition of accepting undue benefits ▲creation of a sound public service environment ▲efforts and leading by example in practicing integrity, along with one reference question related to job performance ability and democratic leadership.

To resolve issues such as popularity voting or image evaluation during the survey, the ‘Standard Model for Diagnosing Corruption Risks of High-ranking Public Officials’ by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission was utilized to ensure objectivity. The survey was conducted online via a link, allowing respondents to answer confidentially and freely even outside the district office.

Additionally, the evaluation was entrusted to an external professional research institution, using an external survey system. All information was coded and encrypted to provide a foundation for employees to respond honestly and fairly.

Besides the integrity evaluation, a ‘self-diagnosis checklist’ was provided to the senior officials as a verification indicator for self-management, enabling them to evaluate and check themselves through 30 diagnostic items.

Lee Seung-ro, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, stated, “Integrity is the highest value for public officials, and since senior officials exert great influence on district administration, they must abandon complacency and take the lead in practicing integrity more than anyone else.” He encouraged senior officials to change themselves to become respected leaders.

Seongbuk-gu plans to provide the evaluation results to the senior officials themselves to enhance their integrity capabilities and promote voluntary improvement. At the same time, the results will be actively used for diagnosing and improving corruption-prone areas and establishing integrity policies.

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