President Lee Jae-myung Stresses Eradicating Political Corruption Without Exception

▲ President Lee Jae-myung speaks during the 1st Anti-Corruption Policy Council meeting held at the presidential office on the 21st.

President Lee Jae-myung said, "While much has improved, we must closely examine and eradicate the political corruption that still remains."

President Lee made the remarks during his opening opening statement at the 1st Anti-Corruption Policy Council meeting presided over at the presidential office, adding, "Please push forward with anti-corruption policies without wavering until our people feel that things have truly changed."

In particular, President Lee urged, "There can be no ruling or opposition parties, nor 'my side or your side' when it comes to eradicating corruption. It is necessary to clear it up fairly and strictly with clear principles and without exception."

President Lee also emphasized the need to root out corruption in the public sector.

President Lee said, "South Korea's economic status has grown very high, but no matter how brilliant economic indicators we achieve, if the government and public service fail to secure the trust of the people, all these achievements can easily collapse like a castle on sand," adding, "We must first establish principles and standards and establish a responsible attitude."

He continued, "As of 2025, South Korea's integrity ranking is said to be 31st out of 182 countries.

While other fields are all within the top 10, it is somewhat embarrassing that only the integrity ranking is 31st," he evaluated.

President Lee urged, "As the economic scale and national power grow, stricter standards are applied to the transparency of the public sector and the integrity of the public service," adding, "We must closely examine whether there are areas where we turned a blind eye with excuses like 'it's been done in the past' or 'it's a past practice' even though public expectations have risen, and if such areas exist, they must be corrected immediately."

He also called for efforts to eradicate private sector corruption, including the intervention of local vested interests in business rights.

President Lee instructed, "Establishing the principles of fairness and justice in our society is not something that ends in a year or two. Needless to say, it requires continuous and constant efforts," adding, "Relevant ministries must approach their work anew with the determination to surely meet these expectations of the public."

Lastly, President Lee reflected, "The international community evaluates South Korea's political capacity very highly. Although we experienced temporary difficulties, we restored the democratic constitutional order through the power of the people without shedding a single drop of blood and without violence."

He then encouraged, "To move forward as an irreplaceable South Korea, domestic order itself must be fair. This is the core goal of our anti-corruption policy, so please do your best with a high sense of mission."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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