ED Anti-graft law legislation
'Conflict of interest prevention' law should be strictly enacted
The National Assembly passed a long-protracted bill Thursday night designed to prevent civil servants from seeking personal gain using information pertinent to their job responsibilities. It also passed a revised bill that prohibits lawmakers from pursuing individual gains based on information they obtained through their parliamentary activities.
We welcome the legislation of the anti-graft bill as it will surely reduce the possibility of corruption related to public decision making, and elevate ethical standards in officialdom. The so-called “conflict of interest prevention bill” was first submitted to the National Assembly along with another proposed anti-graft law, the Kim Young-ran Act, in 2013. But the political parties largely failed to deliberate and deal with it for the past eight years in an apparent bid to protect their privileges, although they cited the “obscure” definition of the job scope of public officials.
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission again pushed for the bill during the current 21st National Assembly which attracted public attention amid a corruption scandal involving Rep. Park Duk-hyum of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Yet its legislation faced serious setbacks due to negligence and lack of interest from both the ruling and opposition parties.
The passage of the bill gained momentum due to the uncovering of alleged land speculation involving employees of state-run housing developer LH. The bill passed the plenary session after it was deliberated by the National Assembly national policy and legislation and judiciary committees.
The number of high-ranking officials, including lawmakers, subject to the law is 1.9 million, but rises to 5 million when including their family members. Under the law, public officials should voluntarily avoid work related to their personal interests and refrain from using information gained while performing their duties for personal purposes. Violators of the law will be subject to harsh punishment.
The law is set to take effect one year after it is promulgated. Government officials ranked higher than vice minister, lawmakers, local councilors and executives of state-run enterprises and institutions will also be subject to the law. A revised bill, which also passed the National Assembly, specifies how lawmakers should avoid conflicts of interest, and includes the scope of punishment of possible violators.
The legislation of the anti-graft bills, albeit belated, is meaningful as it has laid a significant first step toward a fairer and more transparent society. However, the public sector has a long way to go to obtain the public's trust by completely eradicating corrupt practices. First and foremost, the envisioned legislation of the “ethical law of public officials,” meant for all officials to register their assets and property, should be carried out without fail to ensure a cleaner society.
But political groups have shown no signs of dealing with the law. We urge the National Assembly and the government to speed up efforts toward its legislation. In addition, public officials should make more efforts to abide by the law. That is the only way for them to regain the people's trust and respect.