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Whistle-blowers have been changing the Korean society by disclosing corruption, violations of laws and other misconducts of individuals, government agencies and private firms. However, these selfless martyrs often face harassment by the entities they have exposed.
Former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Won Sei-hoon was indicted Tuesday for allegedly mobilizing NIS agents to manipulate public opinion in favor of then ruling camp presidential candidate Park Geun-hye last year. Former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Kim Yong-pan was also indicted for covering up the case.
Whistle-blowers from the two agencies brought them to justice. When an NIS officer disclosed Won's illegality during the presidential campaign last December, the agency fired him and two colleagues. The public wonders whether policewoman Kwon Eun-hee will suffer the same fate as the NIS officers for exposing Kim's attempt to obstruct the case.
Last month, an employee exposed widespread irregularities and corruption by suppliers to the 28 nuclear power generation plants in the nation. The whistle-blower disclosed that suppliers have repeatedly bribed KEPCO E&C engineers so their defective parts and cables would pass technical tests and be supplied to the nuclear power plants. The suppliers had promised these engineers high-paying positions after retirement.
The revelation shocked the people and prompted the government to halt the operation of three plants to check them for safety. President Park Geun-hye said the government will not show leniency toward the wrongdoers. The government has since dismissed Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. President Kim Kyun-seop and KEPCO E&C President An Seung-kyoo, and started an extensive probe.
In the private sector, a dissatisfied CJ Group manager reportedly disclosed various financial and tax misconducts by CJ Chairman Lee Jae-hyun. Prosecutors will interrogate Lee about these allegations, which include misusing corporate money, underreporting taxable income, manipulating stock prices and hiding assets under borrowed-name accounts. Although an official investigation has not yet begun, prosecutors say his wrongdoings are obvious, and thus many believe his indictment is unavoidable.
The Korea Center for Investigative Journalism also made public 18 high-profile South Koreans who have allegedly hidden assets in tax havens like the Cayman Islands. These people include a son of former President Chun Doo-hwan, who is accused of hiding his father's illegal assets in the tax haven. As has been reported, Chun was convicted of extorting $200 million from businessmen during his authoritarian rule (1980–1988). Chun has yet to pay $150 million back to the government.
Despite the positive role of whistle-blowers in making society honest and just, they have not been protected by the government from harassment. There is a law in place that grants leniency to whistle-blowers if they face charges and other legal actions connected to their case. For example, the law to prevent corruption, passed in 2001, allows courts to reduce or waive criminal sentences for whistle-blowers. The law also asks public entities to award similar leniency to whistle-blowers if they face disciplinary actions.
In practice, however, Korea has not been able to uphold this law effectively. For example, Lee Hae-gwan, a labor union leader at KT, revealed that the telecommunication operator had overcharged customers by charging them international call rates for voting for Jeju Island at the New 7 Wonders of Nature poll in 2011. Lee said the votes are considered domestic calls, not international calls. KT demoted and later fired him Lee. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission advised KT to withdraw its decision, but the company refused and took the case to court. A KT spokesman said the company fired him, not because of his disclosure, but because of his absenteeism. The court ruled in favor of KT's position. However, Lee will appeal to the higher court.
Further, public organizations failed to protect the identities of whistle-blowers. Last year, for example, Daejeon City identified an informant, who exposed that his colleagues forged documents to get overtime pay. The city spokesperson later admitted identifying the whistle-blower was against the law and said the city would look into the incident. However, the damage has been done. Since then, the informant has reportedly been threatened or bullied by colleagues.
Being a whistle-blower is a difficult and thankless job. After exposing their organization's wrong-doings, whistle-blowers are treated by many colleagues, supervisors and even people outside of work as traitors due to the society's "shoot-the-messenger" thinking. Many are deprived of career advancement at their workplaces, or worse, are fired. Whistle-blowers do not have sufficient resources to protect themselves from these reprisals.
Whistle-blowers deserve better treatment for their bravery alone. Most people would not report a wrongdoing in their organization for fear of being fired, demoted and denied promotion or pay raises, or simply harassed. At both public and private organizations, for example, employees must sign contracts not to disclose confidential information, which essentially suppresses whistle-blowing. Employees who violate this clause could face criminal prosecution.
There are organizations that encourage whistle-blowing. For instance, the National Tax Service and the Fair Trade Commission promise to award up to 1 billion won and 2 billion won, respectively, to people who report tax evaders and those fixing prices. .
Although legal protection of whistle-blowers varies from country to country, Korea's is below the ideal. Like the United States and the UK, Korea needs multiple nongovernmental organizations that provide legal aid to whistle-blowers. Whistle-blowers, who sacrifice a lot to ensure justice in society, should be lauded and protected rather than harassed or threatened.
Lee Chang-sup is the executive managing director of The Korea Times. Contact him at editorial@koreatimes.co.kr.
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