[Local Power 30 Years ] Bribery and Corruption... Ongoing Dark History of Local Government Heads and Councils

Yongin Mayors from the 1st to 5th Terms Sentenced to Prison for Various Corruption Cases
Continued Ups and Downs in Goesan, Chungbuk and Goseong, Gyeongnam

People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Chan-min (center) is greeting fellow lawmakers before making a personal statement regarding his arrest consent motion at the plenary session held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on September 29. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 14th, Jeong Chan-min, a member of the People Power Party who was detained on charges of obtaining undue profits from a housing construction company during his tenure as mayor of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, was handed over to the prosecution. Jeong is accused of learning in 2014, while serving as mayor of Yongin, that a company was planning a development project in the Giheung District area, approaching the developer through a broker, and in exchange for providing conveniences such as permits, enabling his acquaintances to purchase land in the area at prices below market value. It is also known that his elder brother purchased some of the land planned for development. Yongin, where development is still underway, has seen mayors from the first to the fifth term involved in various corruption cases and sentenced to imprisonment. These cases mainly involve bribery from construction companies or corruption related to apartment complex construction, as well as misconduct and irregularities during the light rail transit project.

Local governments with dark histories are spread across the country. Since the revival of local autonomy in 1995, all elected heads of Goesan County, Chungbuk, have been subject to judicial action. Most were involved in election law violations before election and bribery, solicitation, and other corruption after election. According to local media in Chungbuk, a total of 12 heads of basic local governments in Chungbuk have failed to complete their terms due to various corrupt practices.

In Goseong County, Gyeongnam, half of the four former county heads did not complete their terms due to public office corruption charges. Um Tae-hang, mayor of Bonghwa County, Gyeongbuk, was found in an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection in January to have concurrently held the position of CEO of a solar power generation company. According to the Local Public Officials Act, those elected as heads of local governments must resign from executive positions in profit-making corporations before assuming office. When local government heads resign in disgrace, it disrupts the promotion of major local projects and forces local political circles to hold by-elections. Trust in local governments inevitably decreases as well.

The local councils, a pillar of local power, continue to exhibit corrupt practices related to local government contracts and standing committee activities of local council members, perpetuating regional collusion-type corruption. The Local Contract Act prohibits local council members or their spouses and direct relatives from entering into profit-oriented contracts with the local government. However, many local governments have cases where council members’ families, who are restricted from such contracts, still enter into them. Additionally, just like the National Assembly, local councils should not engage in standing committee activities related to their duties or interests, but this is often not properly observed.

Public officials who directly interact with the council inevitably have high distrust toward it. According to a survey by the National Public Officials Labor Union (Jeonggongno) Gwangju Regional Headquarters last year, 65% of 3,375 respondents said there is ‘gapjil’ (abuse of power) by basic council members. Such abuses include demanding preferential contracts for specific companies, special favors for businesses related to relatives, convenience requests, and instructions for illegal acts during permit processes.

Earlier this year, a survey by Jeonggongno Jeonnam Branch showed that distrust of local councils (24.1%) was higher than trust (20.8%), and in a survey by Jeonggongno Andong City Branch, 6 out of 10 respondents (59.3%) cited ‘personnel and various interest interventions (solicitations)’ as issues city council members need to fix. Last year, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission conducted a local council integrity survey on 65 local councils (17 metropolitan and 48 basic), recording an improved score of 6.73 (+0.50) compared to the previous year. However, since the integrity measurement began in 2013, local councils have consistently shown low scores in the 6-point range. Furthermore, metropolitan councils (6.90) scored lower than metropolitan local governments (8.02) in overall integrity, and basic councils (6.68) scored lower than basic local governments (8.02).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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