Anti-Corruption Campaign and Political Implications under the Nguyễn Phú Trọng Regime : A Discourse Analysis = 응우옌 푸 쫑 체제의 반부패 정책과 정치적 함의: 담론 분석을 중심으로

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper defines Vietnam's anti-corruption policy during the tenure of Nguyễn Phú Trọng (2011–2024) not merely as a corruption eradication program, but as a discourse-governance project accompanied by the reconstitution of legitimacy and the realignment of power. The objectives of this study are: first, to identify how General Secretary Trọng's anti-corruption discourse is constructed and operates through specific linguistic and rhetorical strategies; second, to analyze the political effects this discourse produces through institutionalization and policy implementation; and third, to interpret the structure of a new governance technique that combines performance legitimacy with the moral authority of governance.
The research method combines Fairclough's three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis (text–discourse practice–social practice) with Wodak's discourse-historical approach, enabling a comprehensive analysis of the entire process from linguistic construction to institutional practice and power effects. Empirical data spanning 13 years, from 2011 to 2024, centered on speeches, Party and government documents, media discourse, legislative changes, and anti-corruption indicators (CPI·PAPI), served as evidence to reveal the multidimensional interaction between discourse, policy, and outcomes.
The research findings reveal that, first, Vietnam's anti-corruption discourse functioned as a political discourse simultaneously pursuing moral purification and the restoration of the regime's moral authority through symbolic language such as the "burning furnace" and the "no-exception, no-exemption zone." Core vocabulary such as "integrity" and "purification" were not merely ethical guidelines but central components of a legitimacy discourse aimed at restoring the "purity of the Party." Second, the anti-corruption discourse secured a high degree of systematic coherence through institutional integration and sustained implementation, including the establishment of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-corruption (2013), the comprehensive revision of the Anti-Corruption Law (2018), and the creation of Local Steering Committee on Anti-corruption in all 63 provinces and municipalities. This represented a long-term governance strategy combining the strengthening of centralized authority with administrative discipline, rather than a short-term political campaign. Third, the concurrent rise in both the CPI (31→40) and PAPI (5.76→7.02) indicates that the anti-corruption discourse led to a certain level of restored social trust. The fact that corruption emerged as the top social concern (22.58%) among Vietnamese citizens in 2024 signifies that anti-corruption has been internalized as a national public discourse. Fourth, despite tangible achievements (recovery of corrupt assets, prosecution of high-ranking officials, etc.), an approach centered on excessive control and elite purges has been accompanied by side effects: bureaucratic paralysis and policy passivity.
These outcomes demonstrate that Vietnam's anti-corruption discourse functioned as a governing technique, layered with both the substantive goal of eradicating corruption and the political objective of power realignment. Moral language served not merely as propaganda but as a symbolic resource for reconfiguring political legitimacy within an authoritarian regime and as a disciplinary mechanism for policy implementation. The anti-corruption efforts under the Trọng regime combined economic performance-based legitimacy with moral authority, forming a complex legitimacy structure where performance and ethics, control and trust, operated in a mutually complementary manner.
In terms of policy implications, ensuring the sustainability of anti-corruption requires building an 'automated anti-corruption system' based on procedural norms and institutional trust, rather than relying on individual leadership. Furthermore, a balanced adjustment between ethics and performance is essential to prevent moral discipline from suppressing economic vitality and social autonomy.
Ultimately, Vietnam's anti-corruption discourse from 2011 to 2024 represented a political process of systemic ethical transformation, expanding "from discourse to institutions, and from institutions to moral governance." This demonstrates that the anti-corruption efforts under the Nguyễn Phú Trọng regime were not merely a political campaign but an ethical modernization project of authoritarian rule. However, its sustainability hinges on whether moral authority can be transformed from personal charisma into institutional trust.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

본 논문은 응우옌 푸 쫑(2011–2024) 집권기의 베트남 반부패 정책을 단순한 부패 척결 프로그램이 아닌, 정당성 재구성과 권력 재편을 동반한 담론-통치 프로젝트로 규정한다. 본 연구의 목적은 첫째, 쫑 총비서의 반부패 담론이 어떠한 언어적·수사적 전략을 통해 구성되고 작동하는지를 규명하고, 둘째, 해당 담론이 제도화와 정책 실천을 통해 어떠한 정치적 효과를 산출하는지를 분석하며, 셋째, 이를 통해 성과 정당성과 통치의 도덕적 권위가 결합된 새로운 통치 기술의 구조를 해석하는 데 있다.
연구 방법으로는 Fairclough의 비판적 담론 분석 3차원 모델(텍스트–담론 실천–사회 실천)에 Wodak의 담론-역사적 접근을 결합하여, 언어적 구성에서 제도적 실천, 그리고 권력 효과로 이어지는 전 과정을 종합적으로 분석하였다. 2011년부터 2024년까지의 연설문, 당·정부 문헌, 언론 담론, 법제 변화, 반부패 지표(CPI·PAPI)를 중심으로 한 13년간의 실증 자료는, 담론–정책–성과의 상호작용을 입체적으로 드러내는 근거로 활용되었다.
연구 결과, 첫째, 베트남 반부패 담론은 “불타는 용광로”와 “무예외·무금지구역”이라는 상징적 언어를 통해 도덕적 정화와 체제의 도덕적 권위 회복을 동시에 추구하는 정치적 담론으로 기능하였다. “청렴”과 “정화” 등의 핵심 어휘는 단순한 윤리적 지침이 아니라, “당의 순수성”을 복원하는 정당성 담론의 핵심 구성 요소였다. 둘째, 반부패 담론은 중앙반부패지도위원회 설치(2013), 반부패법 전면 개정(2018), 63개 성·시 반부패위원회 설치 등 제도적 통합과 실천의 지속성을 통해 고도의 체계성을 확보하였다. 이는 단기적 정치 캠페인이 아닌, 중앙집권적 권위 강화와 행정 규율화를 결합한 장기적 통치 전략이었다. 셋째, CPI(31→40)와 PAPI(5.76→7.02)의 동반 상승은 반부패 담론이 일정 수준의 사회적 신뢰 회복으로 이어졌음을 보여주며, 부패가 2024년 베트남 국민의 최대 사회적 우려(22.58%)로 부상한 사실은 반부패가 국가적 공공담론으로 내재화되었음을 의미한다. 넷째, 실질적 성과(부패자산 환수, 고위 간부 기소 등)에도 불구하고, 과도한 통제와 엘리트 숙정 중심의 접근은 관료제 위축과 정책 소극성이라는 부작용을 동반하였다.
이러한 결과는 베트남의 반부패 담론이 부패 척결이라는 실질적 목표와 권력 재편이라는 정치적 목적이 중층적으로 결합된 통치 기술로 작동했음을 보여준다. 도덕적 언어는 단순한 선전이 아니라, 권위주의 체제 내에서 정치적 정당성을 재구성하는 상징적 자원이자, 정책 추진의 규율 장치로 기능하였다. 쫑 체제의 반부패는 경제적 성과 중심의 정당성에 도덕적 권위를 결합하여, 성과와 윤리, 통제와 신뢰가 상호 보완적으로 작동하는 복합적 정당성 구조를 형성하였다.
정책적 함의로, 반부패의 지속 가능성을 확보하기 위해서는 개인의 리더십에 의존하지 않고 절차적 규범과 제도적 신뢰에 기반한 ‘자동화된 반부패 시스템’ 구축이 필요하다. 또한 도덕적 규율이 경제적 활력과 사회적 자율성을 억압하지 않도록 윤리와 성과 간의 균형적 조정이 필수적이다.
결국, 2011–2024년 베트남의 반부패 담론은 “담론에서 제도로, 제도에서 도덕적 통치로” 확장된 체제 윤리화의 정치적 과정이었다. 이는 응우옌 푸 쫑 체제의 반부패가 단순한 정치운동이 아니라, 권위주의 통치의 윤리적 근대화 프로젝트였음을 보여준다. 다만 그 지속 가능성은 도덕적 권위가 개인의 카리스마를 넘어 제도적 신뢰로 전환될 수 있는가에 달려 있다.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Chapter I. Introduction 1
• 1. Research Background and Problem Statement 1
• 2. Research Objectives and Research Questions 4
• (1) Research Purpose 4
• (2) Core Research Questions 5
• 3. Research Methodology 7
• (1) Qualitative Research Methodology 7
• (2) Quantitative Research Methodology 15
• 4. Review of Previous Research and Distinctiveness of This Study 17
• (1) Development of Research on the Legitimacy of Vietnamese Politics 17
• (2) Current State of Vietnamese Anti-Corruption Research 21
• (3) Distinctiveness and Contribution of This Study 23
• Chapter II. The Legitimacy of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Anti-Corruption Policy 26
• 1. Changes in Legitimacy after Đổi Mới 26
• (1) National Liberation and the Weakening of Ideological Legitimacy 26
• (2) Đổi Mới and the Shift Toward Performance and Legitimacy 32
• (3) The Maturation and Initial Limitations of Performance Legitimacy 37
• (4) The Limits of Performance-Based Legitimacy and the Need for New Legitimacy 41
• 2. Anti-Corruption Policies Before Nguyễn Phú Trọng's Leadership 47
• (1) Limitations of Anti-Corruption Policies in the 1990s-2000s 47
• (2) Limitations of Institutional Approaches and Lack of Political Will 50
• 3. Conclusion 53
• (1) Structural Contradictions in the Performance-Legitimacy System and Limitations of Existing Anti-Corruption Policies 53
• (2) The Need for a New Approach 54
• Chapter III. Analysis of Nguyễn Phú Trọng 's Anti-Corruption Discourse 57
• 1. Text-level Analysis 58
• (1) Lexical Distribution and Semantic Field Structure 58
• (2) Grammatical Features and Actor Construction 63
• (3) Binary Opposition Structure and Political Boundary Setting 67
• (4) Rhetorical Devices and Symbolic Construction 71
• (5) Political Implications of Textual Analysis 75
• 2. Analysis at the Discourse Practice Level 78
• (1) Ritualized Discourse Production System 78
• (2) Hierarchical Discourse Diffusion Structure 82
• (3) Multimodal Dissemination Strategy 86
• (4) Patterns of Acceptance and Resistance 88
• (5) Political Effects and Limitations of Discourse Practice 90
• 3. Historical Context 92
• (1) The Modern Reinterpretation of Hồ Chí Minh Thought and Traditional Values 92
• (2) The Creative Fusion of Confucian Tradition and Socialist Morality 94
• (3) Formation of an East-West Value Dichotomy 96
• (4) Strategic Characteristics and Political Implications of Discourse Resource Utilization 97
• (5) Achievements and Limitations of Discursive Resource Utilization 99
• Chapter IV. The Actual Effects and Political Functions of Anti-Corruption Policy 101
• 1. The Process of Institutionalization from Discourse to Policy 101
• (1) Establishment and Empowerment of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-corruption 101
• (2) The Legalization of Discourse through the Anti-Corruption Law 111
• (3) The Process of Institutional Translation of Discourse 116
• 2. Analysis at the Social Practice Level: Power Relations and Identity Construction 118
• (1) Chronological Analysis of Institutional Practices 118
• (2) Social Practice of Discourse through the Disciplinary System 121
• (3) The Legalization of Discourse through Judicial Processing 123
• (4) Massive Purge through Punishment of Politburo Members 125
• (5) Systematic Transformation of the Political Elite Structure through the Prosecution of Central Committee Members 128
• (6) Comprehensive Institutional Control through Audits and Inspections 133
• (7) Completion of the Local Control System and Nationwide Expansion 135
• (8) The Holistic Nature of Discourse Practice and Social Change 136
• 3. Performance Measurement and Political Function 139
• (1) Changes in International Perception Indicators 139
• (2) Changes in Domestic Perception Indicators 143
• Chapter V. Conclusion 157
• 1. Summary of Findings and Political Implications 157
• (1) Key Findings from Discourse Analysis 158
• (2) The Dual Nature of Political Function and Practical Effect 159
• (3) New Governance Techniques in Vietnamese Politics 159
• 2. Legitimacy Reconstruction through Anti-Corruption Discourse and Future Tasks 160
• Bibliography 163
• Abstract in Korean 171