Kwonikwi, 93.2 Billion Won Budget for Next Year... "Goal to Early Establish Conflict of Interest Prevention Act"

Full Enforcement of Conflict of Interest Prevention Act Next Year... Related Budget Increased by 570 Million Won

Chairperson Jeon Hyun-hee of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission briefing on February 2 at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, about the results of improving the acceptance rate of grievance complaint recommendations. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced on the 2nd that it has allocated a budget of 93.2 billion KRW for next year. They explained that this is an increase of 2.33 billion KRW compared to the previous year to establish the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act.

The Commission stated that it set the goal of entering the world's top 20 integrity advanced countries next year and achieving results in anti-corruption and fair reform, and increased the budget necessary for the implementation of the "Conflict of Interest Prevention Act for Public Officials (Conflict of Interest Prevention Act)." The focus was on the implementation of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, strengthening support for ethical compliance management in the private sector, revitalizing corruption and public interest reporting, and enhancing protection and compensation for whistleblowers.

In particular, they plan to make thorough preparations for the stable operation and early establishment of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act for public officials, which is scheduled to be fully enforced in May next year. They decided to strengthen education and publicity for 14,568 applicable institutions nationwide in accordance with the law's enforcement. The related budget was increased by 570 million KRW compared to last year. Additionally, a new budget of 700 million KRW was established to build an information system for the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act. Through this, they aim to stabilize the early stages of the law's enforcement by handling prior reporting of public officials' private interests and processing reports of violations.

Support for ethical compliance management to enhance integrity in the private sector will be strengthened. To prepare for strengthened domestic and international anti-corruption norms, they will expand ethical compliance management training courses for public enterprises and others. The budget for integrity education was set at 2.62 billion KRW, and a new budget of 100 million KRW was established to expand ethical compliance management training courses.

They plan to strengthen the protection and compensation system for corruption and public interest whistleblowers and improve reporting convenience to encourage active reporting of corruption and public interest issues. Accordingly, the compensation paid to whistleblowers was increased. The budget for whistleblower compensation for corruption reports next year was set at 2.96 billion KRW, an increase of 400 million KRW compared to 2.55 billion KRW this year. The budget for free corruption and public interest reporting calls and function improvements was set at 860 million KRW, and the compensation for whistleblowers reporting fraudulent public finance claims was set at 160 million KRW, increasing by 140 million KRW and 50 million KRW respectively.

They will also develop a system to provide customized services for administrative appeal requests. The budget for operating the Administrative Appeal Hub System was increased by about 500 million KRW from 910 million KRW this year to 1.4 billion KRW next year. Additionally, a new budget of about 490 million KRW was established to provide customized services for administrative appeal requests. It is expected that anyone can easily file administrative appeals without the help of experts such as lawyers, thereby further strengthening rights protection.

The budget for the project to reorganize the "Intelligent Integrated Call Center," which integrates the government-wide civil complaint guidance call center 국민콜110 and 96 government call centers' consultation data, was also significantly increased. The related project budget, promoted with the support of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's e-government project budget, was set at 9.37 billion KRW.

Chairperson Jeon Hyun-hee of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said, "We will strengthen the anti-corruption and fairness foundation to enter the world's top 20 integrity advanced countries next year," and added, "We will do our best to ensure that the budget reflecting next year's core projects is faithfully reflected during the National Assembly's review process."

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