Jinju City Council Achieves Grade 2 in 2023 Public Institution Comprehensive Integrity Evaluation

Achieved Excellent Scores in Integrity Efforts Field

The Jinju City Council in Gyeongnam announced on the 9th that it achieved a grade 2 rating in the comprehensive integrity evaluation of metropolitan and basic city councils conducted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.

This is a one-step improvement from the grade 3 rating received in the previous evaluation conducted in 2021.

On the 4th, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced the results of the 2023 comprehensive integrity evaluation targeting 92 metropolitan and basic city councils.

Snowy scene of Jinju City Council.

Among them, the Jinju City Council scored 72.6 out of 100 in comprehensive integrity, which is 5.8 points higher than the average score of 66.8 for 75 basic city councils, earning a grade 2 rating out of 1 to 5 grades.

Breaking down the evaluation categories, the Jinju City Council scored 72.6 points (grade 2) in the integrity perception category, which is 7.4 points higher than the basic city councils' average of 65.2 points, and 90.8 points (grade 2) in the integrity effort category, which is 16.6 points higher than the average of 74.2 points, achieving excellent scores.

In the detailed evaluation by category, the council received perfect scores in two items under integrity perception?▲requests, acceptance, or promises of money or valuables related to personnel matters and ▲requests, acceptance, or promises of money or valuables related to legislative activities?and three items under integrity effort?▲enhancing the effectiveness of high-ranking officials' integrity education, ▲disclosure of integrity education completion status, and ▲maintenance of corruption-inducing factors?showing a significant gap compared to other basic city councils.

In particular, along with the perfect scores mentioned above, the council placed importance on scoring 77.4 points (higher is better), which is 11.6 points higher than the average, in the detailed evaluation item of 'violation of standards and procedures in personnel work' under the council operation section of integrity perception.

Lim Gi-hyang, Chair of the Council Operations Committee, explained, "We have hired as many as 16 public officials over the past two years by reinforcing the council secretariat staff, including policy support officers," adding, "The prioritization of fairness in personnel matters during this process was reflected in the evaluation results."

This integrity evaluation by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission consisted of categories such as integrity perception, integrity effort, corruption status, and trust impairment. Weighting was applied by measurement targets: 34.3% for council secretariat and local government employees, 36.3% for economic and social organizations and experts, and 29.4% for local residents.

Earlier, right after the launch of the 9th council's first half in 2022, the Jinju City Council participated in the integrity training course at the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission's Integrity Training Institute in August, completed integrity education, held an integrity pledge ceremony, and has been focusing on preventing corruption and improving integrity. In addition, the council has been steadily conducting group education to enhance council members' awareness of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, which the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission pointed out as a vulnerability of local councils, including the obligation to avoid conflicts of interest.

Yang Hae-young, Chairperson, said, "Integrity is the duty of the city council as a representative body of residents and the foundation of our society. Thanks to the fellow council members who have devoted themselves to proper legislative activities, the integrity level has significantly improved," adding, "We will continue to strive for the promotion of citizens' welfare and the development of the local community, along with the habitual practice of integrity."

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