한국 공공부문의 부패실태 추이분석 = A Survey on the Trends of Public Sector Corruption in Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

A civilian survey regarding the corruption level of government employees has been conducted each year by the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA) since 1999. In the survey conducted in 2008, 600 general business employees and 400 self-employed workers were asked about their perception of corruption in government affairs. The survey covered topics such as the degree and seriousness of corruption, the prevalence of corruption in the different government sectors, the chain of corruption and personal experience, the cause of corruption and possible solutions, the administrative process and regulations, and government trust. In addition the trends of government corruption for each administration were examined in the 2008 survey.
The major changes as a result of the 2008 survey in comparison with that of the 2007 include the following: The degree of corruption by government employees in the work setting increased from 31.2% to 38.1%; The cause of corruption triggered by the high-level government officials increased from 23.2% to 24.5%; Regarding the prevalence of corruption in the different sectors, corruption in the construction sector is the highest and is increasing in the education sector; One of the reason why bribes such as money are offered to government employees is the implicit demand of the government officials, which increased from 23.8% to 32.9%; The sectors that money and other valuables were offered the most turned out to be the tax service, police, health, construction, and procurement sectors; The amount of money and other valuables offered during the last year was greater than before; The possible solution to the reduction of government corruption in the survey turned out to be the strengthening of the penalty clause; When asked if information is properly disclosed to the public, the majority said no.
Regarding the trends of government corruption for each administration, the prevalence of government corruption was high in many areas in the Roh Moo-hyun administration in 2006, while in the Kim dae-jung administration in 2000 the corruption was highest in the construction sector and in the Lee Myung-bak administraiton the social subsidy and financial assistance sectors were seen as having the most corruption. It is the politicians, lawyers, high government officials, policemen, and tax authority employees who have the highest degree of corruption in the Kim dae-jung administration. The main causes of corruption turned out to be small gifts as tokens of gratitude and private relationships such as in communities and schools in the Lee Myung-bak administration. It is the human-being aspect in Kim dae-jung administration, the private relationship aspect such as communities and schools in the Lee Myung-bak administration, and the even distribution among the job classifications and administrative sectors in the Roh Moo-hyun administration that are the characteristics of each administration in terms of corruption.
The policy suggestions as a result of the survey analysis are as follows. First, the strengthening of the punishment for the corrupt government employees and the providers of bribe, and the protection of the inside whistle blowers. It is urgent to improve the protection system of the whistle blowers in the private sector since they are excluded in the Anti- Corruption Act while those of the public sector are protected in the Act. Second, it is necessary to amend the Public Service Ethics Act. The main contents to be revised are the strengthening of restrictions on the employment of retired public officials, removal of the rejection clause in the reporting system of government employees` assets, and the blind trust of the stocks of public officials. Third, it is necessary to establish an organization for the examination of the high government officials` wrongdoings since they are increasing. It is also necessary to extend the scope of public hearings for the appointment of high government officials and the prescription period for the punishment. Fourth, it is required to ban the profiteering and the concurrent position of the local assemblymen.