Seoul's Top 'Integrity Autonomous District' Dongdaemun-gu, Why Is It Taking Steps to Rebuild Integrity Foundations?

2021 Public Institution Integrity Rating 1st Grade (8.32 Points) Increase and Perfect Score in Personnel Field... 23 Tasks in 4 Areas to Create a More Integrity-Driven Organization in 2022... Integrity Innovation Committee, Communication Meetings, and Corruption Control System Establishment and Operation

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor You Deok-yeol) is implementing various policies under the slogan ‘Clean DDM Nice!’ to create a more transparent organization that resonates with and earns the trust of everyone from public officials to residents.

Last year, the district achieved a remarkable improvement in the ‘Public Institution Integrity Evaluation’ conducted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, with its overall integrity rating rising by one grade (an increase of 0.28 points from the previous year to 8.32 points).

In particular, this score was higher than the average of the 25 autonomous districts in Seoul (7.99 points) and the average for basic local governments (8.03 points). In both external and internal integrity evaluations, there were no cases of bribery, entertainment, or convenience experienced, earning perfect scores of 10 points each.

This year, to continue this momentum and leap to a first-grade rating in public institution integrity, the district is promoting the 2022 Anti-Corruption Integrity Policy, which includes 23 detailed tasks across four areas.

The district is pursuing integrity policies under four themes: 本 (Fundamental), 破 (Break), 防 (Prevent), and 通 (Communicate), aiming to fundamentally change and implement practical integrity measures.

To build an anti-corruption and integrity infrastructure that forms the foundation of these policies, Dongdaemun-gu has adopted its own ‘Anti-Corruption Integrity Practice Resolution,’ where senior executives pledge to eradicate habitual corruption and lead the creation of a fair organizational culture. In February, the district will hold ‘February You and I Integrity Day,’ involving all employees in a relay of anti-corruption integrity pledges by department, with pledge documents displayed at office entrances to publicly demonstrate employees’ commitment to integrity.

Led by Deputy Mayor Choi Hong-yeon, the ‘Integrity Innovation Committee’ serves as the control tower for corruption prevention, while the ‘Corruption Zero Integrity Up Task Force,’ composed of executives and staff leading integrity management, shares insufficient cases in corruption-prone areas and derives improvement measures.

Furthermore, to foster a horizontal organizational culture, emphasis is placed on ‘communication’ and ‘respect’ through various events. To strengthen intergenerational communication within the organization and create a flexible public service culture, the district will continue hosting the ‘Seeing Each Other, Seeing Communication, Seeing Integrity’ communication forum this year, where executives and staff discuss culture and values together, following last year’s success.

Additionally, a new ‘Integrity Love Club’ composed of grade 8-9 public officials has been formed to generate and implement innovative ideas for improving unreasonable practices and eradicating power abuse.

The district also operates a corruption risk preemptive prevention and control system. It surveys customer satisfaction through Integrity Happy Calls targeting civil petitioners with experience in construction contracts, subsidy support, finance and taxation, and permits and approvals, correcting and improving any complaints or difficulties received while raising awareness that exchanging bribes or entertainment is problematic.

Other initiatives include ▲sending integrity alert text messages to civil petitioners related to construction contract work, providing information on integrity pledges and corruption reporting ▲issuing ‘Integrity Advisories’ during corruption-prone periods ▲utilizing the Cheongbaek-e system for continuous monitoring of administrative corruption and errors ▲operating the ‘DDM Knowledge Warehouse,’ a continuous self-learning system for integrity ▲holding ‘You and I Integrity Day’ and ‘Integrity Ah! Let’s Play’ integrity events ▲and conducting the ‘2022 Clean DDM’ integrity campaign.

You Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, stated, “We have consistently worked to realize transparent administration trusted by residents and employees,” adding, “In 2022, we will continue to promote anti-corruption integrity policies that communicate and resonate with residents to create ‘The Integrity Dongdaemun-gu.’”

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