Anti-corruption move called 'just for show'

The chairman of the Policy Evaluation Committee, Cho Wan-kyoo, said the government's efforts to root out corruption and restore order to public offices are seen as just talk, but no action. The committee advises the prime minister.

The committee reported its evaluation of government affairs in 2001 at a Blue House gathering Saturday that President Kim Dae-jung attended. The committee's report said the actions taken by government bodies to prevent corruption were mostly for show and were focused only on systematic changes and not on the attitudes of the people in office.

The committee said the prosecutors office took disciplinary action against 129 prosecutors last year, which is up from 89 cases the year before. The report called for more efficient and practical measures for reforming the prosecutors office and suggested the office should fortify its self-inspection system.

The Ministry of Information and Communication had disclosed more than 10,000 cases of its officials being involved in corruption, but only 2 percent were actually punished. The only government bodies with few or no cases of corruption reported were the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Fair Trade Commission.

The committee suggested that the government create a regulation that would hold government organizations responsible for misuse of bailout funds.

The committee also said that should the present military draft continue the nation's armed forces would be short 25,000 troops by 2003 and 85,000 by 2007.

by Rah Hyun-cheol