4 Billion Won in Endemic Corruption Proceeds Uncovered... Crackdown to Expand to Legal Sector, Military and Police

Police Launch Special Crackdown on Five Major Local Collusion-Related Corruption Offenses
1,094 Referred to Prosecutors in First Crackdown on Endemic Corruption
Plan to Investigate Brokers Arranging Favors and Private Contracts Under Borrowed Names

Starting next month, police will expand the scope of their crackdown on endemic corruption, which has focused on local governments and local councils, to cover the full spectrum of local public officials, including those in the legal sector, the military and the police. They also plan to closely investigate influence-peddling in personnel matters, preferential hiring, and corruption involving reconstruction and redevelopment associations.

Seoul Seodaemun-gu National Office of Investigation, Korean National Police Agency. Photo by Kang Jinhyeong

The National Office of Investigation at the Korean National Police Agency said on October 28 that it will wrap up its first special crackdown on endemic corruption on October 31 and launch a “Special Crackdown on Five Major Local Collusion-Related Corruption Offenses” on November 1.

The five main areas targeted are misconduct in office; bribery and influence-peddling; corruption involving private contracts and public finances; personnel-related corruption; and corruption involving associations. The scope of the crackdown, previously centered on local governments, local councils and local public enterprises, will also be expanded to the full spectrum of local public officials, including those in the legal sector, the military, the police, corrections, tax authorities, firefighting and education.

Police plan to focus their investigations on brokers, including former public officials and civilians, who arrange favors between public officials and private companies. They will also closely examine cases in which public officials set up corporations under borrowed names or family members’ names and then enter into private contracts with local governments to obtain undue benefits.

In the first special crackdown, which began in March, police investigated 785 cases involving 2,288 people, referred 1,094 of them to prosecutors and arrested 31. They also took pre-indictment measures to preserve the confiscation and collection of criminal proceeds totaling about 4 billion won.

By type of offense, public finance-related corruption involving budget spending accounted for the largest number of people investigated, at 1,114, followed by abuse of authority, including exerting undue pressure and accepting bribes in connection with official duties, at 968. In 40 cases involving 149 people, public officials and others obtained benefits by circumventing the rules to secure private contracts with local governments; 52 of those people were referred to prosecutors.

Brokers accounted for 10 of the 31 people arrested overall. They also made up 53 of the 149 people investigated for illegal conduct involving private contracts, or about one-third.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency apprehended 20 people, including local council members, on suspicion of conspiring with companies to receive about 450 million won in kickbacks from contract amounts in exchange for influencing budget allocations and the selection of suppliers. Three of them were arrested. The Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency arrested a broker on suspicion of receiving about 135 million won in exchange for arranging government contracts to supply temporary housing for wildfire victims.

Police plan to establish a cooperative framework with relevant agencies, including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, and strengthen communication with audit departments at government ministries and public agencies. They will also expand special promotions and performance-based bonuses for those who make significant contributions to investigations and intelligence gathering.

Hong Seokgi, chief of the National Office of Investigation, said, “We will root out local collusion-related corruption by breaking the cycle of rule-breaking and undue privilege,” adding, “We will make the crackdown a core police priority rather than a one-off effort and continue investigations without exception.”

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