[2023 National Audit] Financial Supervisory Service Employees Going Rogue... Disciplinary Actions for Drunk Driving and Bribery

Published 17 Oct.2023 10:10(KST)

10 Cases This Year Alone... Twice as Many as Last Year

This year, employees of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) were disciplined for offenses such as drunk driving and accepting bribes.

According to the "Disciplinary Status of Financial Supervisory Service Employees" submitted in advance to the National Assembly's Committee on Finance and Economy by the FSS on the 17th ahead of the national audit, there were 10 disciplinary cases this year alone. This figure is double compared to last year (5 cases).

By type, there were 2 cases of drunk driving, 5 cases of violations of attendance and service regulations, 2 cases of breach of duty to maintain dignity, and 1 case of accepting bribes.

This year, a grade 1 employee and a grade 4 employee were caught for "drunk driving" and received suspension and pay reduction, respectively. In addition, there were 5 cases of employees violating attendance and service regulations. Notably, one counseling specialist was suspended for sexual harassment of a colleague. One grade 3 employee was dismissed for accepting bribes.

The number of disciplinary cases, which was usually less than 10 cases with 5 cases in 2019 and 5 cases in 2020, increased to 9 cases in 2021, decreased to 5 cases in 2022, and rose to 10 cases before the year ended this year.

From 2019 to September 2023, FSS employees received a total of 34 disciplinary actions. Among them, the most common disciplinary action was "pay reduction (20 cases)," followed by "reprimand (7 cases)" and "suspension (4 cases)." There were 3 cases of dismissal.

In 2020, a grade 3 employee was dismissed for accepting bribes and violating confidentiality obligations; in 2022, a grade 5 employee was dismissed for breach of duty to maintain dignity; and this year, a grade 3 employee was dismissed on bribery charges.

Disciplinary actions for drunk driving have occurred every year since 2021 with at least one case annually. In 2021, a grade 2 employee was suspended for drunk driving, and in 2022, grade 4 and grade 5 employees received suspension and pay reduction, respectively, for drunk driving.