• Reports on violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act amounted to 1,404 cases last year of which 416 people received sanctions including criminal punishment
• ACRC requested relevant agencies take corrective measures for multiple reported cases of violations identified as improperly handled
• ACRC released the result of an inspection of 2022 operational status of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act

ACRC revealed that 1,404 cases of reports on violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act were received by public institutions of various levels, and 416 public officials faced sanctions including criminal punishment last year. In particular, violations of the Act reported last year amounted to 369 cases, a huge reduction compared to 3,330 cases reported in 2018.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced on 29^th June the result of an inspection of 2022 operational status of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act by public institutions. This inspection was conducted by the ACRC with a focus on the operational status of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act by public institutions of various levels, including reports on violations received by public institutions up to last year since the first year of the implementation of the Act (28^th Sep. 2016), contents of cases handled, and education/consulting services provided by public institutions.

Until the end of December last year since the Act came into force in 2016, public institutions of various levels have received a total of 13,524 cases of reports on violations. By type of violation, improper solicitation was the most frequent with 8,211 cases reported (60.7%) followed by receipt of money, goods, etc. amounting to 4,900 cases (36.2%), and excessive honoraria for outside lectures, etc. with 413 cases reported (3.1%).

Looking at the trend of reports on violations by year, the number of reports increased to a great extent from 1,568 cases in 2017 to 4,386 cases in 2018, but since then, reports have been continuously decreased. However, there was a slight increase last year with 1,404 cases reported.

In the case of reports related to receipt of money, goods, etc. the number of cases reported have been declining since the implementation of the Act, but last year, it saw a slight increase which seems attributable to stricter enforcement of the law by the incumbent administration.

On the other hand, ACRC has found that there was a great reduction in the number of improper solicitation-related reports, which saw a continuous drop since 2019, by 89% compared to 2018 when 3,330 cases were reported, with public institutions receiving 369 cases last year. This reduction seems to result from constant efforts from the government to eradicate hiring irregularities in public institutions.