Representatives from the government, big business, the National Assembly, and civil society have signed a "transparent society pact" and fight corruption. It marks the first time the four major sectors of our society have joined hands to overcome corruption, and as such this is very significant. The parties to the agreement are going to form a joint body to work out the concrete plans and oversee their implementation by pursuing the endeavor with a sense of urgency and so that the anti-corruption campaign can spread continuously. Having a system in place that is applied is key, so there will have to be steady follow-up measures.
For the past 10 years, Korea has scored higher than a 5 on Transparency International's 10-point corruption perceptions index only once; all other years it has scored less than 5. You can see what the international community thinks of Korea. Last year the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption found that 59 percent of the country thinks public servants are corrupt, a percentage almost the same as the results of a similar survey in 2002. Corruption is a major obstacle in the development of an "advanced society" since it hurts international confidence in the country and gives birth to distrust and cynicism.
The government and the members of the National Assembly need to create heavier sentences for corrupt public officials and restrictions on employment for corrupt officials, introduce a system of "blind trust" and take strong measures such as the seizure of illegal political funds into the National Treasury. We have already seen how "money campaigns" almost disappeared during last year's National Assembly elections thanks to significantly stronger election laws. The reigns have to be tightened to the point where people say that if you engage in corruption it will ruin yourself and your family. As President Roh Moo Hyun has noted, there needs to be an investigative body exclusively for corruption among public servants and the system in which public servants declare their assets needs to be made more effective.
The agreement needs to be expanded to other key areas of society like those that have recently revealed they have corruption problems, such as education and labor, and to the areas of the judicial system, the media, and religion. Since having the people on the lookout for corruption will be the most effective way of eradicating it there needs to be more award money for reporting it, and there needs to be an active introduction of means for citizen participation such as recall votes for elected officials and taxpayers' lawsuits.
The Hankyoreh, 10 March 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Let's Build a 'Transparent Society' |
