Fifteen staff members of the Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Ministry went to a dinner party on Jeju Island in late March, which was hosted by the Korea River Association, and received bribes from private companies. The event was attended by representatives from companies involved in the four-river restoration project, including construction companies. The ministry is in charge of the restoration project, which is opposed by opposition parties, environmental groups and religious organizations. Even a trivial mistake can burden the governments steering of state affairs. So the fate of President Lee Myung-bak depends on outcome of the river project. The ministry thus needs to be extra cautious but its officials seem to think this is none of their business and accepted lavish entertainment and bribes. Whether government officials can properly complete the restoration project is doubtful.
Ministry officials and people working for affiliates are also implicated in corrupt activities. An arrest warrant was issued against a manager of the ministrys real estate department for allegedly taking 30 million won (2.8 U.S. billion dollars) in bribes. A high-ranking official at the Korea Land and Housing Corp. was caught with a massive amount of cash at his office. Prosecutors are investigating the Korea Transportation Safety Authority for allegedly embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars. President Lee should order a stringent across-the-board inspection of public officials at the Land Ministry to stamp out corruption and tighten discipline among public servants.
Moral hazard is rampant at other government agencies as well. According to a pan-government team in charge of public duty management, a manager at a state agency has taken tens of thousands of dollars from private companies over the past two years. Other civil servants were found embezzling government money and gambling at public offices. Whether public officials can do the proper administrative jobs is highly suspicious. Worse, the funds they used for gambling are taxpayers money.
Another government agency is also known to have taken bribes from subsidiaries of public institutions for use in treating staff to dinner. Yet another case involves a state-run company demanding high-price equipment from a builder. Public officials are apparently the strong and private companies the weak. State-owned companies are also hard-nosed. Overlooking such corruption will only hamper Koreas efforts to become a global leader. President Lees campaign to create a fair society could remain a mere pipe dream.
Corruption should be completely blocked through strict punishment but the government`s supervisory function is too loose. Speaking about government corruption at a parliamentary meeting Tuesday, President Lee said, We have now reached the limit. We should be aware that we cannot go on like this. If he fails to root out corruption, he will only disgrace himself as incompetent and irresponsible for what he said.