Board of Audit and Inspection Launches Special Inspection of Public Sector Discipline Ahead of Local Elections, Deploying 538 Personnel

Violations of Political Neutrality by Public Officials
Intensive Inspection of Discipline Lapses and Acts of Preferential Treatment

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) is launching a large-scale special inspection in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the autonomous audit organizations of metropolitan and provincial governments ahead of the June 3 nationwide local elections. This measure is aimed at intensively checking for violations of political neutrality by public officials during the election season, lax discipline among civil servants, and various acts of providing undue favors.

Yonhap News Agency

On May 7, the Board of Audit and Inspection announced that, from May 12 to June 2, it will conduct a special inspection titled "Inspection of Discipline of Public Officials During Election Season" in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the autonomous audit organizations of metropolitan and provincial governments, deploying a total of 538 inspectors.

This inspection will target local governments and their affiliated institutions. The Board of Audit and Inspection plans to focus on acts such as public officials’ involvement in elections, violations of the obligation to maintain political neutrality, unauthorized absences from workplaces, lax discipline, passive administration and acts causing public inconvenience that may occur during the election period.

The inspection will also cover acts of providing undue favors to specific individuals or companies during contracts or licensing processes. Additionally, it will examine budget execution, contracting, or abuse of personnel authority that may take place by exploiting the chaotic atmosphere before and after the election.

Notably, the Board of Audit and Inspection will continue its inspection efforts even after Election Day. The agency stated that it will keep monitoring for acts such as outgoing heads of local governments making personnel appointments as rewards for loyalty after losing primaries or nearing the end of their terms, executing unnecessary budgets, or providing undue favors during contracts or licensing processes.

The inspection methods will include undercover inspections, on-site inspections by stationed personnel, and ad hoc checks of attendance and work discipline. The Board of Audit and Inspection will select vulnerable areas and institutions for undercover inspections, station inspectors at major hubs nationwide to monitor for misconduct and possible election involvement by key personnel, and will also conduct random checks and on-site verifications of civil servants at the local level.

Key inspection targets include public officials joining political parties, supporting specific candidates or parties in election campaigns, and heads of local governments or agencies providing unofficial support for election-related events with public officials or budgets. Acts such as expressing support or opposition for specific candidates via social networking services (SNS), or posting and spreading election-related fake news, are also subject to inspection.

Other areas of focus include failure to observe working hours, unauthorized absences from the workplace, misconduct such as playing games during working hours, unnecessary overseas business trips for leisure, and unauthorized absences or drinking by duty officers. The agency will also assess the state of security management, including building security, access control, closed-circuit television (CCTV), and document management systems.

Delays in handling civil petitions, unjustified rejection or refusal of petitions, and passive administration are also major areas subject to intensive inspection. The Board of Audit and Inspection will check for delays in licensing tasks due to collective petitions, negligence in supervision and enforcement in areas affecting people's livelihoods such as environment and transportation, and acts that cause public inconvenience by operating laws and systems merely for administrative convenience. The Board of Audit and Inspection stated, "To correct the perception within the civil service that 'hardworking officials are disadvantaged by audits,' we will strictly punish passive administration."

The Board of Audit and Inspection will also accept reports from the public regarding public officials' involvement in elections and misconduct. Anyone can report acts of public sector corruption via the Board of Audit and Inspection website or by calling 188, and may receive a reward for reporting in accordance with relevant regulations.

If violations such as breaches of the Public Official Election Act, unnecessary populist budget execution, improper contracting, or provision of undue favors in licensing are uncovered during this inspection, the Board of Audit and Inspection plans to impose strict sanctions, including criminal complaints or disciplinary actions, regardless of whether the misconduct was intentional or due to negligence.

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