Gyeongbuk Integrity Assessment: Grade 1 Awarded to Sports Association for the Disabled and Transportation Culture Training Institute

On November 6, Gyeongbuk Provincial Government announced the results of the "2025 Comprehensive Integrity Assessment of Gyeongbuk Provincial Government-funded and Subsidized Agencies," targeting its affiliated investment and subsidized organizations.

The average comprehensive integrity score for all institutions subject to the 2025 assessment was 8.86 out of 10, which is an increase of 0.08 points compared to the previous year's average of 8.78. Since the introduction of the integrity assessment for investment and subsidized agencies in 2021, the comprehensive integrity score has shown a continuous upward trend. The annual integrity scores were recorded as follows: 8.42 in 2021, 8.70 in 2022, 8.78 in 2023, 8.78 in 2024, and 8.86 in 2025.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office

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To ensure that a culture of integrity takes root even within its affiliated organizations, Gyeongbuk Provincial Government has been conducting comprehensive integrity assessments of its public institutions since 2021, based on the "Ordinance on Improving Integrity in Gyeongbuk Province." These assessments are designed to identify the integrity level of each institution and diagnose and improve factors that may lead to corruption.

Additionally, starting this year, the province evaluated medical centers separately from general institutions, taking into account the unique characteristics of their work and the diversity of external integrity measurement targets.

The comprehensive integrity assessment combines the results of several categories: "External Perception," which is evaluated by residents who have experienced the institution's work and administrative services; "Internal Perception," evaluated by the institution's own staff; "Integrity Effort," which assesses the institution's policies and systems for preventing corruption; and "Corruption Status Assessment," which deducts points based on the occurrence of corruption cases. Based on the total score, institutions are classified into five grades, from Grade 1 (highest) to Grade 5 (lowest).

Looking at the results by category, the average external perception score for all institutions was 9.74, a slight decrease from 9.83 in the previous year. However, as public service organizations at the forefront of resident interaction, investment and subsidized agencies continued to receive high external integrity scores, indicating that public trust is becoming firmly established.

In contrast, the internal perception score, evaluated by the institutions' own employees, rose by 0.36 points to 8.80 from 8.44 in the previous year. The integrity effort score also increased by 0.19 points to 8.45 from 8.26 the previous year.

By grade, two institutions received Grade 1, eight institutions received Grade 2, eight institutions received Grade 3, four institutions received Grade 4, and one institution received Grade 5. The results show that most institutions are converging toward a higher average score, with only slight differences between them.

The institutions that received Grade 1 were the Gyeongsangbuk-do Sports Association for the Disabled and the Gyeongbuk Transportation Culture Training Institute. Grade 2 institutions included Gyeongbuk Technopark, Gyeongbuk Culture and Tourism Organization, Gyeongsangbuk-do Agricultural Food Distribution and Education Promotion Agency, Gyeongsangbuk-do Economic Promotion Agency, Gyeongsangbuk-do Women's Policy Development Institute, Gyeongbuk Research Institute, Gyeongsangbuk-do Talent Lifelong Education Promotion Agency, and Pohang Medical Center.

Grade 3 institutions were Gyeongbuk Credit Guarantee Foundation, Korea Studies Advancement Center, Gyeongsangbuk-do Patriots and Veterans Foundation, Dokdo Foundation, Gyeongbuk Happiness Foundation, Saemaul Foundation, Gyeongbuk Cultural Foundation, and Andong Medical Center.

Grade 4 institutions included Gyeongsangbuk-do Volunteer Center, Gyeongsangbuk-do Sports Council, Gyeongbuk Bio Industry Research Institute, and Gimcheon Medical Center. The Gyeongsangbuk-do Environmental Training Institute was rated as Grade 5.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government will notify not only the relevant institutions but also their supervisory departments of the integrity assessment results, so that they can be used to improve integrity. The results will also be reflected in the management performance evaluations of local investment and subsidized agencies and in the performance evaluations of heads of medical centers. In addition, rewards totaling 12 million won will be given to top-performing institutions.

Furthermore, for lower-performing institutions (Grade 4 and below), the province plans to analyze the causes of poor integrity and implement customized consulting by experts to develop tailored improvement measures.

Seo Jeongchan, Auditor of Gyeongbuk Provincial Government, stated, "Thanks to the continued interest and efforts of investment and subsidized agencies, integrity levels have been rising every year, and a culture of integrity is taking root throughout the provincial administration." He added, "We will analyze vulnerabilities through the assessment results and pursue customized improvement measures to further earn the trust of our residents."

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