On more open, transparent government

Jose Maria Marin, program coordinator for public sector integrity at Transparency International, is interviewed at the Transparency International-Korea office in downtown Seoul, Tuesday./ Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Kim Ji-soo

South Korea, a country with a dynamic and formerly volatile political history, recently demonstrated one of the most effective defenses of democracy with its series of candlelit protests calling for the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye.

In August, only a few months after new leader, Moon Jae-in, took office, Korea took another important step for democracy by launching the first Open Government Partnership (OGP) forum, which included a recent high-level meeting in New York. The inaugural forum brought together representatives from the government, including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and 11 members of civic organizations, including Transparency International's (TI) Korea chapter.

"The Open Government Partnership is an international initiative, a platform, a process that Transparency International supports," said Jose Maria Marin, the program coordinator for public sector integrity at Transparency International, a leading anti-corruption organization.

"The OGP gets governments and civic society together, as co-stakeholders, to come up with a national plan based on their priorities and commitments to open up governments to be more transparent and accountable and to ensure citizen participation," said Marin, who works on issues regarding Open Government Partnership within Transparency International and was in Seoul to attend a seminar this week.

The OGP was founded in 2011 and has 75 member countries. It has seven thematic working groups: access to information, anti-corruption, fiscal openness, legislative openness, data openness, and openness in natural resources and climate. South Korea will start working with the OGP Steering Committee next month.

When countries join the OGP, their governments introduce a change process to civic society, share knowledge worldwide through the OGP, and share the assessment of problems, solutions and other items on their national agenda, he said.

Marin said the OGP is a perfect vehicle to add to the fight against corruption "because you're able to put in commitments that specifically tackle corruption but indirectly tackle it as well by increasing participation and making the government more responsive and accountable."

He said South Korea's administrative innovations, such as M-Voting, a mobile app that allows citizens to share their opinion on Seoul city policies, are good examples of how to increase transparency. At the New York OGP meeting, Gwanghwamun 1st Street, a project that operated from May 25 through July 12 to take policy suggestions from citizens, was touted as an example of increasing public participation. In 1998, South Korea implemented the Public Information Disclosure Act, the first law of its kind in Asia.

Asked whether recent developments in Korea — the Anti-Graft Law, a.k.a. "Kim Young-ran Act," implemented a year ago, and the Moon administration's plan for an investigative body that will deal with graft cases involving senior government officials — were good signs that Korea was moving toward more transparency, Marin said he was not necessarily very cognizant of Korea's situation, albeit the country's partnership with the OGP are good signs.

Marin was also asked about South Korea's corruption perception index (CPI) ranking in 2016 — 52nd among 176 member states — a slip from the previous year that invited concern and criticism.

"The CPI is a very valuable index to raise awareness about corruption. Small changes from year to year are not concerning. That being said, I think the number tells us that that corruption is an issue that needs proper attention in Korea," Marin said.

Asked about the trial of Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong on multiple charges, including bribery and capital flight, Marin said he cannot comment on a specific case.

"I am of the opinion that demonstrating that there is little to no impunity in a country is always helpful in the fight against corruption," he said, adding that the perception that impunity exists demoralizes society and does not help in anyway.

Asked whether government information, in particular sensitive security issues, should be fully disclosed, Marin cautiously said that in principle government information, all of it, should be disclosed to the public.

"It is a difficult game in the sense that some information may do more harm than good. But there needs to be a very credible and independent mechanism that can make that assessment, ensure that what should be public is public and what should not be public, be kept securely," he said. He stressed that establishing independent bodies such as an access-to-information commission are good ways to deal with such sensitive issues.

Korea is moving to strengthen the powers of the public information disclosure committee, so that it will fall under the Prime Minister's Office and can investigate issues and recommend policies regarding public disclosure.

"In general, corruption starts with people and the people should be the ones to solve it," he noted, urging citizens' awareness and participation.