– 35 cases mediated and consulted in a year by preemptively identifying long-standing collective complaints

– In 2023, ACRC resolved collective complaints of 120,000 people, including cases resolved by the Collective Grievance Investigation Team

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Ryu Chul Whan) established a “Collective Grievance Investigation Team” in March 2023 and resolved 35 cases of grievances of 34,000 people through mediation and consultation in a year by actively endeavoring to resolve long-standing or intense collective complaints.

The number of collective complaints filed in 2023 reached 7,000 nationwide. Such complaints are usually difficult to be addressed by involved parties alone, which delay the resolution of complaints, causing considerable amount of social conflict expenses.

With regard to this, in March 2023, ACRC established a designated team specialized in collective complaint mediation. Since then, the team has been ly resolving complaints that are challenging to be addressed by first-line agencies through ACRC’s “mediation.”

The “Collective Grievance Investigation Team” adopted handling methods that ensure preemptively identifying collective complaints that are difficult to resolve due to different opinions among agencies and initiating investigations. Based on these methods, the team received 104 cases in the past year, handling 68 of them, among which 35 were resolved through mediation and consultation.

Major types of complaints resolved are as follows: long-standing regional grievances that were difficult to address due to interests among agencies or parties involved, environmental issues, such as noise and bad smell, inconveniences in living due to lack of infrastructure, and civil complaints regarding children’s safety.

For example, abandoned and neglected deer in Anma-do, Yeong gwang-gun, Jeollanam-do have been damaging crops owned by nearby residents for more than 30 years. This was addressed by coordinating different opinions among relevant agencies, leading to the allocation of roles of each agency and the amendment of relevant laws.

In addition, a crosswalk could not be built on the road in front of a shopping center in Dongdaemun, Seoul for 17 years due to different opinions within merchant associations, resulting in jaywalking by pedestrians, causing danger of accidents. This issue was addressed by the arbitration by the “Collective Grievance Investigation Team,” resulting in a decision to build a crosswalk while ensuring mutual benefits of merchants, which led to a clue to resolve a long-standing grievance of 7,963 residents.

There are also other mediated cases, such as preparing noise reduction measures for residents living around the Daejeon Geumgang Bridge No.1, creating a new area for boarding and alighting at Goyang Deokeunhangang Elementary School to ensure the safety of children, and ▴building an urban planning road in front of the main gate of Goyang Deokee Elementary School.

In 2023, ACRC resolved a total of 230 collective complaints filed by 120,000 people, including cases resolved by the “Collective Grievance Investigation Team.” It is assumed that a greater number of citizens may have benefited, taking into account residents, parents, and users of facilities, such as roads, who did not file grievance complaints.

ACRC Vice Chairperson Kim Tae Gyu said, “By establishing the “Collective Grievance Investigation Team,” we have made significant achievements of resolving various long-standing collective complaints. We will remain committed to promoting the identification of civil complaints and systemizing the operation of the team to resolve grievances in living faced by more citizens.”