 Kim Dai-sik, vice chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, speaks during an interview in his office, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Kim Se-jeong
Activities of Korea’s Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), a government body working toward a corruption-free society, have the potential to establish a new model for the developing world, said Kim Dai-sik, vice chairman of the commission.
Kim attended the World Economic Forum on Africa held in Cape Town, South Africa, May 4-6.
At the forum where CEOs of leading international companies and heads of state gathered, Kim, as the top Korean delegate, shared the commission’s anti-corruption and civil rights endeavors with President of Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Prime Minister of Kenya Raila Amolo Odinga.
“They were keen on listening to practices of the Commission and expressed their interest in learning more about it,” Kim said during an interview in his Seoul office, Tuesday.
What appealed to them were the commission’s annual Integrity Assessment scheme for public organizations, and an online petition outlet, called E-People System, he explained. The E-People System earned the United Nations Public Service Award this year.
Awareness on anti-corruption was a hard-learnt lesson for Korea achieving so much economically in such a short span of time. In the days of heady industrialization, previous governments offered advantages for few chosen businesses in return for money that was often used for political campaigns. Two former presidents were charged with amassing huge slush funds while in office.
This week has been especially hard on the commission, as a bribe scandal involving former senior officials of the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) made headlines in the media.
The scandal involves Busan Mutual Savings Bank whose operation was suspended in February this year. It was found that insiders and important customers were tipped off about it beforehand, allowed to withdraw their money, whereas a majority of customers had to endure the consequences.
The BAI is responsible for monitoring, among others, financial institutions.
Kim said the news first came as a personal wake-up call.
“As a public servant, I feel embarrassed by the news, and I am reminded of the importance of business ethics.”
As a senior official of the commission, the incident was a call for a severe punishment of those involved. “We might need to adopt a ‘one-strike-out system’ in the wake of this,” he urged.
Public servants who infringe on ethical guidelines and integrity are usually stripped of their duties and yet they usually make a comeback after some time.
Against such developments and realities, however, Kim said Korea still deserves credit for having made significant improvements. “Yes, we do have corruption. But we have to acknowledge that the situation has improved.”
Evidence of improvement lies in the founding of the ACRC.
Launched in 2002, the ACRC has spearheaded intensive programs to realize social justice. The commission runs on two main pillars: civil rights and anti-corruption
Civil Rights
One important role of the ACRC is to be the window through which the public can submit their petitions and complaints. The commission receives petitions, transfers them to relevant government bodies, and delivers responses to petitioners — all done electronically.
“E-People System” is an online platform, receiving between 2,700 and 3,000 submissions every day.
After years of committed service, the system was chosen as the winner of the UN Public Service Award.
The system is accessible both to Korean citizens and foreign residents in Korea.
It offers the service in eight different languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Mongolian and Uzbek. The system in Uzbek is only a couple of days old, and the Bangladeshi and Cambodian versions will soon be available. Languages were chosen based on the size of the population residing in Korea.
“Most petitions are from undocumented workers who request payment of deferred wages and from those who married Koreans,” said Bahn Ji-yeon, a deputy director for public relations of the ACRC.
www.epeople.go.kr is the website, and the language section can be found at the center of the page.
Anti-corruption
The Integrity Assessment is highly regarded in the commission’s anti-corruption drive.
The nine-year old annual evaluation ranks more than 700 public organizations in Korea in accordance with its corruption level. The evaluation is made via a public survey.
“For example, we randomly contact public service users for a survey. Also those who work for the government entities are anonymously asked about human resources management,” said Kim Dok-man, a public relations officer.
“Organizations that perform well get recognition, whereas those with a poor record get embarrassed.”
The index was well received domestically, and now the commission is sharing the scheme with developing countries.
Indonesia has the index system in full operation, and Thailand will implement the same system next year.
The same project is being undertaken in Mongolia, funded by the World Bank since 2008.
The commission publishes a booklet of ethics guidelines for high-ranking officials as well, which public organizations use as a guideline for disciplinary action.
The G20 Seoul Summit in November last year created a momentum for the commission’s drive. Twenty participating countries made a solid commitment to anti-corruption activities.
To follow up the commitment, representatives from the member states — Korea is represented by the ACRC, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade — meet for working group meetings in nine categories
— To ratify and fully implement the United Nations Convention Against Corruption
— To adopt and enforce laws and other measures against international bribery
— To prevent corrupt officials from accessing the global financial system and from laundering their proceeds from corruption
— To prevent corrupt officials from being able to travel abroad with immunity
— To strengthen international cooperation
— To support the recovery of proceeds from corruption stowed abroad
— To protect whistleblowers, who report in good faith suspected acts of corruption, from discriminatory and retaliatory actions
— To strengthen the effective functioning of anti-corruption bodies or enforcement authorities in the prevention and fight against corruption and enable authorities to carry out their function free from undue influence
— To promote integrity, transparency, accountability and the prevention of corruption
Kim said that the anti-corruption advocacy in Korea is headed in the right direction.
“Especially after the Lee Myung-bak administration took office, the campaign has grown very robust,” Kim said in praise.
There are still challenges. According to the global Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, an NGO, Korea was
last year ranked 39th. Denmark, New Zealand, Singapore, Finland and Sweden were top five countries.
But the vice chairman adamantly aims high. “In the long-run, we’ll make it into the top five.”
Who is Kim Dai-sik?
ACRC Vice Chairman Kim Dai-sik, 50, is a professorturned-public servant.
Specialized in Japanese literature, Kim has been a faculty member at the Dongseo University in Busan since 1995, teaching Japanese literature.
His political career began in 2007, when he worked on the campaign secretariat of the then presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak.
After the President was elected, Kim joined the transition committee where he was responsible for social, education and cultural sectors. In June 2008, he moved to the National Unification Advisory Council, where he served for three years as secretary general.
In January this year, he was appointed vice chairman of the commission.
