Anti-Corruption Commission Introduces Active Administration Public Application System... Complaints Unprocessed Due to Lack of Regulations

Chairperson Jeon Hyun-hee of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announcing the implementation of the 'Active Administration Public Application System' at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 21st. (Image source=Yonhap News)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced on the 21st that it will introduce the 'Active Administration National Application System.' This system allows citizens to submit policy ideas for public interest purposes, and if there are deficiencies or ambiguities in laws and regulations, the ACRC reviews them from the citizens' perspective and provides opinions to related agencies or recommends institutional improvements to encourage active administration.

Regarding the introduction of the 'Active Administration National Application System,' ACRC Chairperson Jeon Hyun-hee said on the 21st, "This system enables citizens to directly participate in active administration and establishes institutional measures to eradicate passive administration by public officials. We expect that citizens' perception of active administration will significantly improve going forward."

The government has been promoting related policies such as exemption from liability for active public officials and awards for outstanding public officials. To strengthen this trend, the ACRC introduced the 'Active Administration National Application System,' where citizens can directly participate in active administration and provide ideas through the People's Petition Portal.

In the past three years (2017?2019), about 260,000 citizen policy proposals were submitted to the People's Petition Portal, but only 4.6% (11,884 cases) were actually adopted as policies. Going forward, when citizen proposals that were not adopted by agencies and public interest complaints are received as 'Active Administration National Applications,' the ACRC will review whether they align with the public interest and, even if laws are deficient or unclear, will suggest appropriate handling directions and standards to related agencies and conduct follow-up management.

Although about 40,000 cases are reported annually on the Passive Administration Report Portal operated by the ACRC, only about 2% were recognized and processed as actual passive administration by agencies. Therefore, the ACRC has improved the system so that if citizens' inconveniences are not resolved despite reporting passive administration or if there are objections to the handling results, they can request a re-examination by the ACRC.

The ACRC plans to develop a comprehensive plan to identify the root causes through processing passive administration reports and fundamentally resolve and prevent them. This is because the causes of passive administration vary, including behavioral issues of the person in charge, lack of laws or unreasonable practices, and difficulties in adjusting interests. Additionally, the ACRC will inspect and evaluate the handling status of passive administration reports in each agency and support education and consulting to help public officials abandon passive attitudes and engage in active administration.

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