Internal Analysis Reveals the Decline in Suncheon’s Internal Integrity Was a 'Foreseen Event'

Continued Influence of Some Retired Officials on Various Permits and Approvals

Difficulty Overcoming Differences Between Veteran and New Officials... No Integration

[Suncheon=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] In the 2021 public institution integrity evaluation announced by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, the internal integrity of Suncheon City, Jeollanam-do, has declined compared to last year, prompting voices that this was a predictable outcome.

According to Suncheon City on the 21st, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission recently announced the integrity evaluation results.

Suncheon City's internal integrity was rated at the lower 4th level, which is one level down from the 3rd level last year.

Since the launch of the 7th local government in July 2018, with the administrative goal of "Together with the new Suncheon citizens," the city has strongly pursued the first administrative policy of achieving a "More Honest and Trustworthy City." However, this year's evaluation results show an external integrity rating of 5th grade and internal integrity rating of 4th grade, placing the city at the bottom overall with a 5th grade.

This result is analyzed within the city as something that was already anticipated.

Recently, controversies over the influence exerted by some retired public officials have been continuously raised in various areas, including permits and approvals.

Long-standing collusion between some public officials and companies, as well as suspicions of power plays by city council members, the media, and various organizations, have also fueled the decline in integrity.

Public official A said, "Whenever something happens, many people come looking, including former public officials employed by companies and city council members, somehow knowing about it," adding, "It would be much easier if it were just approved from above."

There is also an analysis that this reflects conflicts within the public official organization.

It is claimed that the integration between the older generation and the new generation of public officials is not going well.

Public official B cautiously stated, "Looking at the age composition of Suncheon City public officials, there are many in the upper levels, fewer in the working middle levels, and many new employees have been recruited in the past three years," adding, "Due to the COVID-19 situation, opportunities for communication have been lacking, and many new employees have not yet fully integrated into the public official organization."

Public official C said, "The water must be clear from the top. We must acknowledge the differences in awareness caused by generational gaps. Those above think from experience that nothing is wrong, but young people may see it as unfair and inappropriate."

Public official D said, "I cannot comfortably say a word to the younger colleagues because it might be considered abuse of power," adding, "Being in the middle between seniors and juniors is very difficult."

Suncheon City has introduced the "Citizen Secret Inspector" system as a clean governance pledge of the 7th local government, operating the "Integrity Whistle" to prevent recurrence by spreading repeated audit findings from internal and external institutions through public-private cooperation in official inspections. The city has been promoting anti-corruption and integrity innovation policies befitting a city with a historical culture of integrity represented by the "Palmabi" monument.

To eradicate the three major abuses of power?acceptance of money or entertainment between colleagues and with complainants, sexual harassment and violence, and rudeness and unfairness?the city operates the "Abuse of Power Damage Reporting Center."

Efforts to achieve a trustworthy and honest city have received excellent evaluations from various institutions in different assessments.

In 2019, Suncheon won the Excellence Award at the Public Official Inspection Case Competition conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety among 243 local governments nationwide. Last year, it was the only basic local government nationwide selected as an excellent institution in the "2020 Internal Audit Contest" conducted by the Board of Audit and Inspection.

On the 7th of this month, in the "Public Official Ethics System Operation Evaluation" conducted by the Ministry of Personnel Management, which evaluated 286 institutions including metropolitan and basic local governments and city/provincial education offices across 9 fields and 25 items such as compliance with public official ethics laws, asset registration, disclosure, review, employment, and activity restrictions, Suncheon City was selected as an excellent institution for two consecutive years and was the only one in Jeollanam-do.

From 2019 to last year, Suncheon City conducted two rounds of intensive internal audits totaling 93 days, taking measures on 16 cases (11 corrective recoveries, 5 warnings) involving about 650 million KRW, disciplining various corrupt public officials, and reporting or disciplining officials involved in abuse of power and bribery.

Despite these internal efforts, the evaluation results came out as they did, prompting the city to hold a special countermeasure executive meeting, conduct consulting by vulnerable sector, share the evaluation results with all employees, and prepare to solicit ideas for practicing integrity through reflection and feedback.

A Suncheon City official said, "Last year, we expected many point deductions, but we did not expect it to come out like this this year," adding, "We will reorganize and strive to improve integrity."

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