“If there were law, the LH crisis would have been prevented”
Discussing expanding to’secret on the job’ →’non-public information’
I am interviewing with. Senior Reporter Kim Bong-gyu [email protected]” alt=”Hyun-hee Jeon, Chairman of the Civil Rights Commissioner at the Seoul Government Complex on the morning of the 16th <한겨레>I am interviewing with. Senior Reporter Kim Bong-gyu [email protected]” />
Chairman Jeon Hyun-hee, Chairman of the National Rights and Interests Committee, is interviewing at the Seoul Government Complex on the morning of the 16th. Senior reporter Kim Bong-gyu [email protected]
“If the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, which regulates the ethics of 2 million public officials, cannot be enacted as a matter of interests of members of the National Assembly, the National Assembly is committing a big mistake.” While allegations of land speculation by employees of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) are causing public resentment, Chairman Jeon Hyun-hee of the National Human Rights and Interest Committee repeatedly urged the passage of the “Public Officials Conflict of Interest Prevention Act” (the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act), which has not crossed the threshold of the National Assembly for 8 years Went out. In an interview at the Seoul Government Complex on the 16th, former chairman of the re-elected National Assembly said, “If this law had been enacted in advance, the LH incident would not have occurred fundamentally.” He said, “We are discussing with the National Assembly a plan to modify the’professional secret’ prescribed in the current legislation to’non-public information acquired on the job’ so that punishment can be punished regardless.”
―If there was a Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, could the LH incident be prevented?
“The legislation currently being discussed in the National Assembly stipulates that if there is a private interest in the duties performed by public officials, they can be reported and avoided from their duties. In addition, if you trade using secrets acquired on the job and gain property profits, you will be punished by imprisonment for not more than 7 years, and the property profits can be confiscated and collected. Even if you don’t get a profit from your property, you are punished by criminal penalties for just using your job secrets. If the law had been enacted, it would have been possible to prevent and block real estate speculation by LH executives and staff members in advance, and even if that happened, it would not have occurred fundamentally because it was possible to strictly punish post control.”
―It may be controversial whether employees who do not have’job relevance’ should report their personal interests, and whether the information used in the land purchase process is’job secret’.
“The work of creating a new city goes through several steps such as designation of a district, approval of project implementation, and compensation, and all LH employees with private interests must report the fact and avoid their duties. LH employees who are directly involved in real estate related work in relation to the creation of a new city can be interpreted as having a job-related relationship. In addition, considering the fact that the Supreme Court’s ruling is interpreting the scope of’professional secrecy’ very narrowly, the National Assembly and the Authority are discussing a plan to correct the’professional secrecy’ provision of the bill to’non-public information acquired for work’.”
―The obligation to report to private stakeholders and avoid job duties has already been in the LH employee code of conduct since 2018, but has not been observed.
“The code of conduct is limited to the level of’company rules’. I think that if this is promoted to law, it will be able to guarantee practical performance. Although the contents stipulated in the Solicitation Prohibition Act (Act on the Prohibition of Acceptance of Unfair Solicitation and Money, etc., the so-called’Kim Young-ran Act’) existed at the level of the code of conduct, but after the enactment of the law, there was a justification for public officials to refuse conventional entertainment A change has occurred in society. It is clear that legislation has an effect. In addition, the current government draft has a penalty provision that imposes fines for failure to comply with the reporting obligations, and I think the punishment provisions will be strengthened in the course of discussions at the National Assembly.”
I am interviewing with. Senior Reporter Kim Bong-gyu [email protected]” alt=”Hyun-hee Jeon, Chairman of the Civil Rights Commissioner at the Seoul Government Complex on the morning of the 16th <한겨레>I am interviewing with. Senior Reporter Kim Bong-gyu [email protected]” />
Chun Hyun-hee, chairman of the National Rights and Interest Committee, is interviewing at the Seoul Government Complex on the morning of the 16th. Senior reporter Kim Bong-gyu [email protected]
―What do you think is the reason why the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act has not passed the National Assembly?
“There was a provision to prevent conflicts of interest when the solicitation prohibition law was initiated in 2013, but the rules to prevent conflicts of interest were excluded from the discussions of the National Assembly. In order to increase the integrity of public officials, the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act was also important, and although it was initiated by the National Assembly in the 19th and 20th, it was not even discussed. I believe that the concern of the National Assembly members’ complaints about local districts and the infringement of legislative activities related to their function was an important cause.”
―Is the current bill unrelated to those concerns?
“The bill previously submitted to the National Assembly had a comprehensive range of discipline, but the current bill has been supplemented with a very specific listing of the scope of duties of elected public officials such as members of the National Assembly. Routine standing committee work or local complaints can be done as long as this law is enacted. Legislation related to the prevention of conflicts of interest of members of the National Assembly regarding the assignment of standing committees, etc., is being discussed separately in the National Assembly Act, but if the revision of the National Assembly Act is made together with the enactment of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, synergistic effects can be achieved. It is a law with a large scope governing 2 million public officials (including public institutions, etc.), so if it is not enacted as a matter of interest to members of the National Assembly, the National Assembly is guilty of a big mistake.”
―It looks like the high-ranking officials criminal investigation office is taking over as the’Anti-Corruption Control Tower’.
“The government agency is an institution that punishes corruption, and the KFTC is an institution that establishes and prevents anti-corruption related policies. Kwon Ik-wi is the anti-corruption control tower. Measures to secure the integrity and ethical management of public enterprises will soon be prepared, announced and implemented. The plan is to discuss with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to increase the proportion of ethical management when evaluating public institutions. As Chairman of Kwon Ik-Com, I would like to say that I am very sorry to the people for this LH incident.”
―Some pointed out that the authority to handle corruption and public interest reports in the public office lacks authority.
“In order to play a role as a corruption control tower, strong investigation rights are required, but this is not the case now. Even if a report is received, the respondent is not authorized to investigate the respondent, so it is only a request for investigation, so there is a fear of innocence or defamation of the respondent. Institutional improvement is needed to overcome the limitations of the KFTC’s not having the right to investigate.” By Park Tae-woo, staff reporter