NIS korea/2006/in focus/news room

25 October 2006

Korea (South): A national corruption map

National Integrity System Study of Korea 2006
Governance and Integrity: Korea in Transition

Download the full National Integrity System Study

NC press release:
NIS_KOREA2006_PressRelease_PDF.pdf 4.85 MB
Presentation of the findings:
NIS2006_KoreaPressRelease.ppt 466.00 kB

Introduction
The good news
The bad news
Priorities and recommendations

Download the full report
About the NIS studies
Chapter activities
Related documents
Related links
Press coverage
Media contacts

Introduction

The National Integrity System (NIS) Study of Korea, the first of 10 studies of East and Southeast Asian Countries to be released by Transparency International in 2006, shows that Korea has achieved significant improvements in governance and integrity over a relatively short period of time through political leadership and public demand.

However, while expectations of rapid development are high, at present Korea still ranks low in terms of integrity and anti-corruption activities, failing to do justice to its relative international economic standing and trailing well behind other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

The study analysed the key institutions, laws and practices that contribute to integrity, transparency and accountability in Korean society and the extent to which they function in practice. It found that the main challenge for Korea’s anti-corruption efforts and reforms is the dependence on and sustainability of political commitment towards a coherent and sound anti-corruption framework.

NIS Study of Korea 2006 Contents:

Executive Summary
Priorities and Recommendations
Country Profile
Corruption Profile
Anti-Corruption Activities
The National Integrity System
Public Sector

Executive
Supreme Audit Institution
Law Enforcement Agency
Public Contracting System
Ombudsman
Anti-Corruption Agency
Legislature
Electoral Commission
Judiciary
Regional and Local Government

Non-Public Sector

Political Parties
Media
Civil Society
Business Sector
International Institutions

Evaluation of the NIS

Public Sector
Non-Public Sector

Download the complete NIS Study for Korea here.

The good news

Generally speaking, central public institutions in Korea have improved their governance and integrity systems. As a top priority in the current reform agenda, the president has shown eagerness to address corruption during his term of office on the one hand and promote the governance and integrity of public officials on the other. Central government agencies have largely complied both with the president’s request for action and with provisions for increasing public consciousness.

Korea started its systematic efforts to fight corruption in the 1990s, culminating in the combination of the introduction of the Anti-Corruption Act in July 2001 and the establishment of the Korean Independent Commission Against Corruption (KICAC) in January 2002.

While most legal reforms to combat corruption in Korea have focused on the public sector, recently the public and private sectors have expressed commitment to ethics and integrity in their performance. In 2005, the government, business sectors and other civil groups voluntarily joined the Korea Pact on Anti-Corruption and Transparency (K-Pact), a pledge to commit themselves to the fight against corruption.

Civil society has taken the lead in anti-corruption reforms in Korea. Besides promoting legislative changes, civil society has successfully participated in anti-corruption activities in the public and private sectors, such as through National Assembly monitoring, nation-wide blacklisting campaigns in general elections and shareholder activism.

The bad news

Despite significant improvements in governance and integrity through political leadership and public demand, constitutionally independent institutions such as the legislative and the judicial branches have not shown the same level of enthusiasm in addressing corruption. Meanwhile, on the regional level, local autonomous institutions reveal serious problems in their governance and integrity, with significant increases in corruption.

While the introduction of the Anti-Corruption Act was long regarded as a cornerstone in the anti-corruption movement in Korea, increasing concern remains over the KICAC’s lack of investigative authority, its limited authority overall and the ineffective nature of whistle-blowing mechanisms, raising doubt over the applicability and efficacy of the Act.

As for the Public Service Ethics Act, the provisions regarding assets registration and post-employment fail to provide clear guidelines, rules and standards that would discourage and ultimately prohibit officials from enjoying inappropriate financial gains. In addition, high-ranking public officials continue to be reluctant to comply fully with asset registration and post-employment restrictions. Public-official ethics committees, in charge of overseeing and examining the various provisions of the Public Service Ethics Act, also remain too lenient in fulfilling their duties.

The general public of Korea thinks that the most serious corruption activities involve vested and established interest groups, as witnessed by the many scandals involving presidents’ relatives and cronies, top-ranking public officials and politicians. Abuse of administrative and legislative power has repeatedly taken place when the government created or allocated businesses and funds. In addition, large conglomerates still provide astronomical amounts of funds to political parties. Adding to these wrongdoings are corporate corruption cases parties, such as accounting fraud and embezzlement, that have become major issues in Korea, particularly after the financial crisis.

Priorities and recommendations

The pillars of society that form the NIS of Korea continue to undergo rapid transition. Over a relatively short period of time, Korea has achieved significant improvements in governance and integrity through political leadership and public demand.

However, the country needs to address its shortcomings to attain national integrity in congruence with its economic and social status. It is important that emphasis be placed on the fundamental effectiveness of Korea’s regulatory environment.

Efforts should first of all be channelled into three areas:

enhancing monitoring mechanisms
strengthening law enforcement
empowering anti-corruption institutions

Specific recommendations for these areas are:

Enhance monitoring mechanisms to proactively prevent wrongdoing and to follow up by sanctioning this action. This will ensure the highest degree of accountability and integrity, resulting in an active interplay between all stakeholders of society.
Strengthen enforcement and obedience of the regulatory framework that surrounds the country’s NIS.
Empower anti-corruption institutions with more investigative powers, enabling the government to oversee and act against corrupt practices within the system as a whole.
Introduce a special bureau of investigation of high-ranking public officials.

Chapter Activities

Transparency International Korea was founded in 1999 through a coalition of civil organizations with the purpose to reform the awareness of people, to eliminate widespread corruption in the society, and to contribute to the righteous construction of society through anti-corruption movements.

TI Korea’s main activities include:

1. Anticorruption and Transparent Society Pact Movement

Proposed the “Korean Pact on Anticorruption and Transparent Society” (K-PACT) to the public, political, private sectors, and civil society, and promoted to conclusion
Upon conclusion of the K-PACT, making sure that each sector must fulfill the Pact’s monitoring and implementation requirements.

2. The proliferation and establishment of a Citizen Ombudsman System

Participating in establishing a Citizen Ombudsman network
Creating national academy courses for educational and volunteer purposes

3. Law and Policy Research and Development Survey

Creating anticorruption laws and civil society solidarity legislation
Establishing business ethics principles for a business ethics school
Researching for the development and activation of the Citizen Ombudsman system

4. Anticorruption Education, a Cultural Enterprise

Cooperating with businesses on the development of the “Clean Korea 21—Making a transparent society” campaign
Working with organizations on building a foundation for the activation of a Youth Anti-corruption Education System
Raising youth anticorruption and ethical awareness through the spread of anticorruption publications

5. International Anticorruption Solidarity

TI Solidarity and TI East Asian Regional activities
Participated in Japan’s National Ombudsman meeting and US Ombudsman educational courses
Held the International Youth Anticorruption Forum and the East Asian Anticorruption workshop
Observed Cambodia’s anticorruption program
TI Inquiry Committee and Board Member country activities

About the NIS Studies

The NIS study of Korea is part of a regional TI project to analyse the integrity systems in East and South East Asia. 10 studies are being completed in 2006 as part of this series, including Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The NIS study of Korea is the first of the project series to be released.

For more information on the methodology and other country reports around the world, please click here.