The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Awards 404 Million Won in Public Interest Whistleblower Rewards... First Case of 'Drug Report'

Since the establishment of the whistleblower reward system in 2016, a reward has been paid for the first time to a whistleblower who reported violations of the Narcotics Control Act.

Jeong Seung-yoon, Acting Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, is giving a briefing at the Government Seoul Office Building.
[Photo by Jo Yong-jun]

On the 10th, Acting Chairman Jeong Seung-yoon of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced at a briefing at the Government Seoul Office, “Last year, a total of 404 million KRW in rewards will be paid to whistleblowers who brought significant financial benefits to public institutions or contributed to the promotion of public interest through reports of corruption and public interest violations.” The ACRC selects reward recipients each year by receiving recommendations from public institutions, followed by deliberation and resolution by the Compensation Review Committee and decisions by the plenary committee.

In particular, although the Narcotics Control Act has been included as a subject law for public interest violations since the enactment and enforcement of the Whistleblower Protection Act in 2011, there had been no cases of related reward payments until now. However, last year, based on recommendations from the National Police Agency and others, approximately 100 million KRW was decided to be paid for three cases. The whistleblowers reported not only a friend’s drug possession charges but also attempts at smuggling and illegal distribution, which posed a risk of drug proliferation, and the police seized more than 10 kg of narcotics.

Regarding corruption reports in the public sector, Mr. A, who reported a company that won a public contract with false documents, received a reward of 20 million KRW, and Mr. B, who reported a public official who leaked internal confidential information to a private company where they were scheduled to be employed, received 10 million KRW. In the case of the public official who leaked internal confidential information, a prison sentence was confirmed, and accordingly, employment restrictions such as disqualification from public office were applied. Mr. C reported a public official who embezzled approximately 10 billion KRW from a local government fund to his affiliated institution; the reported official was not only dismissed but also sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Acting Chairman Jeong said, “The ACRC is working to improve support levels for whistleblowers by revising the enforcement decree of the Whistleblower Protection Act to raise the reward ceiling to 500 million KRW,” and added, “We will continue to actively operate the reward system for whistleblowers who have shown courage.”

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