[Editorial] Lax discipline

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning is tasked to design the future of the Korean economy and lead Korea’s transition to a creative economy. Yet the powerful ministry has a more urgent task to do: to improve the moral fiber of its officials.

Recently, there has been a series of misconduct involving the ministry’s officials. The latest case involves a section chief of the ministry who is suspected of having attempted to purchase sex. The official was caught by undercover police officers in March when he checked in a hotel room in southern Seoul with a hostess after drinking at a nearby entertainment establishment.

As the official is suspected of having accepted sexual bribe from a businessman, police have recently sent the case to the prosecution for indictment.

Prosecutors are also investigating three ministry officials on charges of accepting bribes from executives of Lotte Homeshopping in connection with renewing its business license.

The shopping channel was found in February to have presented fabricated documents to the ministry in applying for license renewal last year. The three officials are suspected of having turned a blind eye to the forged document to extend the company’s license.

The Board of Audit and Inspection has already asked the ministry to take disciplinary action against the three.

But the ministry was found to have allowed one of the suspected officials to take a leave of absence and work as an executive for a private software company.

Last month, a deputy section chief of the ministry caused a stir by forcing an employee of an agency under the ministry’s supervision to do his son’s English composition homework.

The ministry’s lax discipline is well illustrated by the large number of its officials involved in misconduct. During the past two years, the Ministry of Personnel Management has found a total of 38 ministry officials involved in corrupt practices. Among them, 10 were found to have received money and lavish entertainment.

The Science Ministry is a big agency with jurisdiction over a wide range of matters. As it is vested with the power to regulate diverse industries, its officials are lobbying targets. All the more reason, then, for the ministry’s officials to behave themselves. Science Minister Choi Yang-hee needs to instill greater discipline into his officials to restore the public’s trust in his ministry.