President Park Geun-hye called on officials Wednesday to make efforts to root out corruption in the latest call to make South Korea a more transparent country.
She said in a meeting with officials at the presidential office that public distrust will persist and national cohesion will be undermined if corruption among public officials is not kept in check.
Park's comments came a day after a Seoul court issued an arrest warrant for an incumbent judge who allegedly took bribes from a loan shark in return for legal favors.
It marked the first time in eight years that a sitting judge has been investigated over bribery allegations.
She also specifically touched on corruption in the country's nuclear industry to try to dispel lingering safety concerns in a country that relies on 23 nuclear reactors for one-third of its energy needs.
The government said in 2013 that hundreds of documents meant to ensure the safety of South Korea's nuclear reactors have been forged.
South Korea has climbed three notches in an international corruption awareness ranking to 43rd out of 175 countries in 2014, according to a global anti-corruption watchdog.
The Berlin-based Transparency International said in December that South Korea scored 55 out of 100 in its 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index, with high scores meaning low corruption.
Also Wednesday, Park called for strengthened vigilance to ensure that a cyber-attack won't recur in South Korea.
In December, an anonymous anti-nuclear group had posted a series of documents and operating manuals for some South Korean nuclear reactors on the Internet. (Yonhap)