President Lee: "Undermining Constitutional Order More Serious Than Anti-Corruption… Measures Must Be Discussed"

President Lee Jae-myung said, "We must discuss the causes and countermeasures for a society where fake news is rampant and only extreme polarization remains, with the middle disappearing."

Chairing the 1st Anti-Corruption Policy Consultation Meeting at the Blue House on the afternoon of the same day, President Lee ordered this by stating, "Recently, acts destroying the constitutional order are more serious than anti-corruption," according to Blue House Senior Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung in a written briefing.

Regarding the fact that the first meeting of the Anti-Corruption Policy Consultation Meeting was held a year after the launch of the administration, President Lee also remarked, "It feels a bit late."

During the 2-hour and 40-minute meeting, discussions centered around two major categories: "eradication of indigenous corruption and public contract corruption," and "eradication of national financial embezzlement such as illegal collection of subsidies and eradication of revolving-door ties."

Regarding the eradication of indigenous corruption, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Police Agency reported plans including periodic public official inspections, comprehensive checks on abnormal public fund transactions, and the establishment of a dedicated response organization for regional collusive corruption within the National Office of Investigation.

Interpretations suggest that the discussion on eradicating indigenous corruption was made with the recent controversy surrounding shoddy investigations and collusion over the "Jang Yoon-ki case" in mind. In fact, the police have previously announced the establishment of an "internal corruption investigation unit" in connection with this case.

As measures to eradicate public contract corruption, plans were reported to fundamentally block illegal private contracts through amendments to the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, strengthen the disclosure system for private contracts, and impose bidding deposits on companies suspected of being paper companies during government procurement.

As measures to eradicate the embezzlement of national finances, the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced plans to raise penalty surcharges for state and local subsidies, while the Korea Customs Service announced strict crackdowns on national financial embezzlement through supplementary investigation powers.

To eradicate revolving-door ties, the Ministry of Justice explained its plan to push for legislation to secure fairness and transparency in the national decision-making process.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also introduced the progress of measures to eradicate the problem of special favors for former officials in the railway sector.

President Lee also received reports on cases such as local council members making private contracts with companies established under their own or family names, and some public officials embezzling public funds using unofficial ledgers.

Expressing astonishment by saying "It is hard to believe" regarding these cases, President Lee instructed, "Each ministry, administration, and agency should form research teams to systematically detect such practices using artificial intelligence (AI)."

Regarding government procurement bidding, he said, "Please build a system that can be verified by the public to guarantee fairness and validity," and added, "If national revenue increases and profits are certain, do not hesitate to grant whistleblower rewards."

Regarding the plan to eradicate companies engaging in import distribution corruption that abuse quota tariffs, as reported by the Korea Customs Service, he requested, "Measures made exceptionally with good intentions may have evolved into structural corruption. Please also ponder institutional complementary measures together with the competent ministries."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.