[2026 Parliamentary Audit] Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Acceptance Rate at 7.3%... Reasons for Case Closure Remain Unclear

Political Affairs Committee’s Audit of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission
Concerns Raised Over Lack of Transparency in Case Closure Reasons

There have been growing concerns that a significant number of cases for public interest whistleblower protection are being closed without clear explanations for the decisions.

On the 6th, at the National Assembly's Policy Committee hearing, Jeong Ilyeon, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, is responding to lawmakers' questions. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Han Minsu, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out during the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee audit of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission on the 6th, “A public interest whistleblower is a person who exposes illegal acts and corruption within an organization and must be protected from dismissal, disciplinary actions, and other disadvantages simply for making a report. However, if you look at the current status of how these protection cases are handled, the acceptance rate is only 7.3%, and no details on the cases that have been closed are disclosed. Statistics on reasons for case closures should be released to the public.”

Assemblyman Han highlighted that, out of 1,643 public interest whistleblower protection cases processed from 2023 to August this year, only 120 cases (7.3%) were accepted. He noted, “When you look at the closed cases, some may include applications that were withdrawn, cases not related to public interest whistleblowing, or cases that were already handled.” He criticized that the management of case processing status is inadequate.

According to Assemblyman Han, the number of public interest whistleblower protection cases received increased rapidly, from 186 in 2023 to 754 between January and August this year. Preventive orders to prohibit retaliation—measures intended to prevent expected retaliation after a report—also surged during the same period, from 6 cases to 211. However, of 249 requests received during this period, only 3 cases (1.2%) were accepted.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission determines whether to accept, reject, dismiss, or close public interest whistleblower protection cases depending on the circumstances, but does not separately manage the reasons for closure. Jeong Ilyeon, Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, admitted, “We have not been categorizing the reasons for case closure,” and added, “We will organize the reasons for case closure by type in response to the concerns raised.”

During the hearing, calls were also made to strengthen personal protection measures for public interest whistleblowers. Choi Eunsuk, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, referenced whistleblower “A” mentioned during the confirmation hearing for former Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seungwon, and pointed out, “On September 7 last month, requests were made for CCTV monitoring and personal protection, but nothing has been implemented so far.” Choi further noted that the average processing period for emergency personal protection requests handled by the Commission between 2021 and August this year was 19.1 days, and criticized, “It is common for whistleblowers to feel extremely anxious about possible retaliation, so what exactly is the Commission doing during those 19 days?”

Requests for personal protection also increased rapidly, from 8 cases in 2021 to 64 last year, but the acceptance rate remains around 25%. Assemblyman Choi stated, “Despite the surge in personal protection requests, only a quarter are accepted, and even when requests are made, they appear to be delayed for as long as 19 days.” He urged the Commission to enact measures to shorten processing deadlines for emergency personal protection requests and to strengthen cooperation with the police.

Chairperson Jeong explained that whistleblower A’s request for personal protection was closed on the 2nd of this month. Regarding the lengthy processing of such requests, he clarified, “The Commission genuinely wants to ensure protection for whistleblowers in such cases and requests any possible documentation from the applicant to verify whether they are facing personal threats.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.