416 Public Officials Sanctioned Under the Anti-Graft Act Last Year... Highest Ever

Last year, the number of public officials sanctioned for violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act reached a record high of 416.

Jeong Seung-yoon, Vice Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee at the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, is holding a briefing on June 1 at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, regarding the 'Comprehensive Investigation Launch' related to the 'Election Commission's Child Preferential Hiring Allegations.' Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 29th, Jeong Seung-yoon, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), announced the results of the inspection on the operation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act in public institutions last year at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

According to the ACRC, the number of reports of violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act received by public institutions at all levels last year was 1,404. After increasing from 1,568 cases in 2017 to 4,386 cases in 2018, the number has steadily decreased but slightly increased last year. From the enactment of the Act in 2016 until the end of December last year, a total of 13,524 violation reports were received by public institutions at all levels. The most common type of violation was improper solicitation, accounting for 8,211 cases (60.7%). This was followed by acceptance of money or valuables with 4,900 cases (36.2%), and excessive lecture fees or similar with 413 cases (3.1%).

Last year, 416 public officials were sanctioned for violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. This is the highest number ever, representing about a 30% increase compared to 321 in 2021. Among the sanctions, fines for violations were the most common with 289 cases, followed by disciplinary fines with 100 cases, and criminal penalties with 27 cases.

There were also inappropriate handling of reports, such as cases where only disciplinary action was taken against those who accepted money or valuables without referring the case for investigation, leading to case closure. The ACRC confirmed a total of 24 cases of inappropriate report handling and requested corrective measures from the relevant institutions. Vice Chairman Jeong stated, "We will thoroughly manage follow-up measures, including reflecting whether institutions comply with corrective actions in the comprehensive integrity evaluation of public institutions."

The ACRC has been inspecting the operation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act annually since its enforcement in 2016, targeting public institutions at all levels. The inspection covers about 23,000 public institutions, including constitutional bodies, central administrative agencies, local governments, public-related organizations, and schools at all levels.

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