INTERVIEW 'Culture of integrity' key to fighting corruption

Park Un-jong, chairwoman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), speaks in an interview with The Korea Times and Hankook Ilbo at her office in Seoul on May 8. She underlined the need to build a culture of integrity across society to root out corruption. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

By Lee Min-hyung

• Published May 12, 2019 5:17 PM KST
• Updated May 12, 2019 5:33 PM KST

Marking the second anniversary of the Moon Jae-in administration, The Korea Times, jointly with the Hankook Ilbo, interviewed Cabinet ministers to review his government’s policies on tackling corruption to create a more just society, as well as other pending issues. This is the first of the interviews. ― ED.

By Lee Min-hyung

The end goal of the nation's anti-corruption policy drive should be to establish a culture of integrity in the private sector, but the ongoing government-led institutional reforms focus mainly on the public area, according to Park Un-jong, chairwoman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC).

“The government has carried out anti-corruption policies with a focus on the public sector, so there is still much to be desired in the private one,” she said in an interview with The Korea Times and its sister paper, Hankook Ilbo.

For this reason, there still remains a practice of offering illegal kickbacks in some types of business, she said.

“Government-driven institutional reforms are not sufficient to root out such practices,” Park said. “What we need is to foster a culture of integrity across the society by taking related measures, such as education reinforcement. The media should also pay more attention to the issue.”

The practice of providing illegal kickbacks has for decades been one of the key social problems that remains unsettled, despite growing calls to tighten legal measures to put an end to it. For instance, some drug manufacturers make headlines after being caught offering kickbacks to doctors.

The ACRC was established in February 2008 with a view to protecting the public's rights and establishing a transparent and corruption-free society. Park has served as the head of the commission since taking office in June 2017.

She said the incumbent government has placed a top priority on reforming policies and institutions against corruption for the past two years, and generated some visible outcomes over the drive.

“President Moon Jae-in took office amid expectations of building a transparent society,” she said. “Some of the outstanding outcomes include restoration of a pan-governmental anti-corruption system and improvement in corrupt hiring practices.”

But the Moon administration still has much work to do to establish transparency across society, she said.

Positive side of Kim Young-ran Act

She also spoke highly of the so-called Kim Young-ran Act, the anti-graft law introduced in September 2016, as it has helped foster a culture of anti-corruption in every corner of the society.

The introduction of the act was aimed at removing the nation's long-lasting culture of gift-giving and bribery. The law, named after the former chief of the ACRC, prohibits public servants, teachers and journalists from receiving meals over 30,000 won ($25.40), or gifts worth over 50,000 won. It also bans them from getting congratulatory and condolence money exceeding 100,000 won.

It has been less than three years since the nation introduced the law, but it served as a turning point for society to establish a culture of transparency, she said.

“The law has created an overall paradigm shift in our society, making public officials as well as people from all walks of life reflect on themselves over the issue of corruption and bribery,” Park said.

“I think the law has become a norm in every part of our lives,” she said. “We will continue to conduct institutional reforms to improve loopholes surrounding the act. The agency will also garner more efforts to make those who violate the law face stricter punishment.”