Seoul City dismisses 65 for corruption

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has fired 65 officials since February 2009 in keeping with the so-called “one-strike out” sanction system designed to weed out corrupt officials.

The officials caught embezzling or accepting bribes in excess of 1 million won ($800) were dismissed and will not be reinstated, city officials said Wednesday.

The system led to the firings of 28 officials in 2009, 24 in 2010 and 13 this year. The money amounts ranged from as much as 64 million won ($55,000) to as little as 500,000 won.

A city official said even if the amount doesn’t exceed 1 million won, any official who asks for a bribe will face dismissal under the system.

The official said that moral integrity and work transparency have been emphasized for city hall employees since Park Won-soon took office in October as a civic activist-turned-mayor. He added that the city government will take tougher-than-ever measures to crack down on corrupt government officials.

The city also plans to expand the sanction system from the metropolitan government to 25 district offices and city-funded organizations.

Since August, officials caught in bribery have been required to pay back five times the bribe under the revised local government law.

Seoul City plans to apply both systems to corrupt officials, so they will not only be fired but also pay back the money.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)