A stronger effort to end corruption

In an attempt to root out corruption in officialdom, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission yesterday said it would beef up its transparency evaluation of government offices by conducting more specific departmental reviews.

The more intensive review is aimed at improving rank-and-file civil servants’ awareness of transparency, because only the heads of government offices have paid attention to the evaluations under the current system, a commission official said.

The new evaluations will be done in every department, division and bureau of central government ministries and agencies, in order to obtain a precise view of their activities.

Until now, the commission has conducted surveys of government ministries and agencies, local governments and education offices, and then announced annual transparency rankings.

Concerns have grown, however, over the effectiveness of the evaluation system after the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, which was ranked the second-most transparent in the commission’s review last December, was recently marred by various corruption scandals.

The first to be put under the microscope this year will be the Land Ministry, prosecution, police, the National Tax Service and the Financial Services Commission because they are most often contacted by people in need of civil service help and are considered to face more bribery attempts than other offices. The program will be expanded later to other government agencies and ministries.

According to the commission source, the results of the intensified transparency evaluations will be reflected in the personnel records of civil servants.

The heads of government offices will receive the review outcomes for each department, though it won’t be made public. “The president will still receive the reports, and they will be used as a reference for personnel affairs,” the official said.

The new measures were a result of public concern over the lack of discipline of some civil servants in regard to their use of government credit cards. The “clean card” system regulating state-run companies and government offices, introduced in 2005, is designed to bar civil servants from spending taxpayers’ money for improper activities. Use of government credit cards is prohibited at 19 businesses including room salons, country clubs, casinos and lottery sellers.

By Ser Myo-ja, Lee Chul-jae [myoja@joongang.co.kr]

한글 관련 기사 [중앙일보]
빅4 권력기관 + 국토부…실·국별로 청렴도 평가
권익위, 청와대에 결과 보고
국민권익위원회(권익위)는 검찰·경찰·국세청·금융감독원 등 이른바 권력기관과 최근 연찬회에서 뇌물·향응을 받아 물의를 일으킨 국토해양부에 대한 청렴도 평가를 올해부터 실·국, 지방청 단위로 세분화할 계획이라고 22일 밝혔다.

청렴도 평가는 민원인에겐 해당 기관의 부패·투명성·책임성에 대해 설문조사를 하고, 공무원들에겐 인사·예산집행·업무지시의 공정성에 대해 물은 뒤 답변 결과를 점수화하는 것이다.

　지금까진 각 기관을 하나의 단위로 해서 청렴도 점수를 매겨왔으나 올해부터는 국토부의 경우 주택토지실·물류항만실·항공정책실·해양정책국 등의 청렴도 점수를 따로 낸다는 것이다. 검찰·경찰·국세청은 서울·부산·대구 등 각 지방청별로 청렴도 조사를 하게 된다.

　권익위 관계자는 “지금처럼 기관별로 평가를 하면 기관장만 평가에 신경을 쓴다는 지적이 많았다”며 “청렴도를 높이려면 기관 구성원 전체의 참여를 이끌어내야 한다”고 말했다.

　 실·국 또는 지방청 단위의 청렴도 평가는 해당 기관장은 물론 이명박 대통령에게도 보고될 예정이다. 권익위 관계자는 “평가 결과가 대통령에게 보고되면 인사 참고자료로도 쓰일 수 있다”고 밝혔다. 권익위는 민원인·공무원에 대한 설문조사 외에도 부패 공직자 적발이나 처벌 실적도 청렴도 평가에 반영키로 했다. 또 올해는 이들 기관에 한해 시범적으로 실시하지만 내년부터는 다른 곳으로도 확대하는 방안을 검토 중이다.