Public Institutions Become More Transparent
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Public institutions are getting more transparent and their employees are taking fewer bribes than a year ago, according to an anti-corruption agency Thursday.
The presidential Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption (KICAC) released the results of a survey on transparency, which showed that the institutions received 8.89 out of 10 points on average.
This figure represents an increase of 0.12 from 2006, while the rate of those taking bribes was 0.5 percent, 0.2 percentage points down, the commission said.
The survey of 90,272 visitors to those institutions was conducted between July 2006 and June 2007.
Of 333 public institutions including self-governing bodies, the Korea Coast Guard topped the list with 9.83 points, followed by the Financial Supervisory Commission with 9.8 points.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation obtained the lowest score of 6.18.
KICAC officials said public organizations have been increasingly transparent for the last five years.
In 2002, the integrity average stood at a mere 6.43 but the figure jumped to 7.71 a year later.
In the 2007 survey, 174 or 52 percent of 333 organizations garnered more than 9 points, the anti-corruption agency's public information officer Kim Dok-man said.
He also said that employees at those institutions are taking fewer bribes than a year earlier.
Despite the good evaluation, about 60 percent of respondents said they gave bribes to gain an advantage when negotiating contracts while about 26 percent said they just wanted to express their gratitude. Some 17.6 percent said it was because it was customary and 5.9 percent said public servants required bribes first.
Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province and Seoul made the biggest improvement in transparency in the KICAC survey.
In particular, the capital city has made full efforts to eradicate corruption by adopting a scientific evaluation system, which encourages its staff to carry out their performance through incentives or penalties.
Seoul revised the fire safety inspections department, which many people had complained about, by imposing heavier fines on corrupt officials.
Of state-run companies, railway company Korail showed the greatest improvement increasing its score to 9.01 from 7.72.
The company made corruption cases public and promised to cooperate with its partners to prevent temptation.
For construction contracts which are vulnerable to corruption-related crimes on, the firm operated a task force supervising contract process.
Korail has also established a whistle-blowing system to help its staff report corruption and any difficulties they have.
More than 60 percent of public servants suggested that transparent and precise standards related to personnel be established to prevent corruption, KICAC said.
Other officials said organizations should operate a system to fairly supervise their achievements and executives should voluntarily make efforts to eradicate corruption.
The commission also promised to help public institutions maintain a corruption-free environment, with KICAC designating weak spots that need improvement and evaluating improvement efforts.
Public agencies should submit an improvement plan by April and a report on their achievements by October. Then, KICAC will begin evaluation and consultation in the second half of the year with experts.
If some institutions keep showing chronic problems, the corruption watchdog will examine them, suggest ways to eradicate problems.
KICAC will seek stiffer punishment and codes of conduct to help public officials change their views on corruption and taking bribes.
It will also offer each institution lectures on codes of conduct and investigate possible corruption on a regular basis.
The commission will hold a contest to award public institutions that maintain transparent management, provide incentives and exhibit model cases.