Gimcheon City Council Launches Institutional Reforms to Restore Public Trust

Serious Recognition of Integrity Assessment Results

On March 19, Gimcheon City Council in North Gyeongsang Province announced that it takes the results of the 2025 Comprehensive Integrity Assessment conducted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission very seriously, after receiving the lowest grade, Level 5. The council stated that it will pursue institutional reforms across all aspects of council operations to restore public trust.

Panoramic photo of Gimcheon City Council / Photo by Kim Eehwan

The council views the results not merely as a matter of points but as an indication that sufficient public trust has not been secured in its overall operations. Taking this as an opportunity, it plans to fundamentally strengthen the transparency and accountability of its legislative activities.

Accordingly, during the 258th extraordinary session held over three days from March 10 to March 12, 2026, the council overhauled its code of ethics and operational regulations and began establishing a foundation for clean and fair legislative activities.

First, it clearly defined key ethical violations such as the duty of integrity and the prevention of conflicts of interest for council members, and strengthened the function of the Special Ethics Committee to enhance the effectiveness of the code of ethics. Through these measures, the council aims to reinforce the individual responsibility of its members and to establish standards for legislative activities that meet the expectations of citizens.

Additionally, to enhance the transparency of budget execution, the council clarified the standards for the use of business promotion expenses and the procedures for public disclosure, and established sanction regulations to enable the recovery of funds and disciplinary action in the event of improper use.

Furthermore, regarding official overseas business trips, the council introduced procedures for the prior disclosure of trip plans and for collecting residents' opinions, and improved the system to expand the disclosure of trip outcomes, thereby ensuring transparency throughout the entire process.

In the operation of council research groups, the council will expand the participation of civilian committee members and require the public disclosure of research plans, final reports, and budget execution details, in order to enhance the accountability and effectiveness of policy research.

Chairman Na Youngmin stated, "We take the results of this integrity assessment very seriously and are deeply aware that restoring the trust of our citizens is the most important task. Gimcheon City Council will demonstrate the results of change not through words but through institutional reforms and practical actions, and we will become a responsible council that meets the expectations of our citizens."

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