1. Reasons for Amendment

A. The amendment allows the property of public officials to be disclosed through an information and communications network operated by the Minister of Personnel Management and prescribes grounds on which to take action against, and commissions investigations of, public officials who have gained wealth or property using undisclosed information from their affiliated organization, thereby strengthening the effectiveness of property disclosures and examinations.

B. Streamline the scope of persons liable for registration of property by prescribing grounds on which to make an exception and exclude any person who is an employee of a public-service-related organization that handles affairs or information associated with property, such as Korea Land and Housing Corporation, but who does not actually handle affairs or information associated with property.

C. Modify provisions concerning property registration and blind trust of stocks to ensure effectiveness by prescribing that persons liable for registration may  be provided with motor vehicle ownership/membership information on application, and by adjusting the base date of the obligation fulfillment period for blind trusts, etc., if an application for change of position is submitted in regard to a blind trust of stocks.

2. Major Provisions

A. “Prescribe grounds on which to unify channels for disclosing the registered property of public officials (Article 10 (1))”

1) Include in the national agenda an integrated channel to provide information on property disclosure by public officials, which is currently disclosed by different constitutional institutions and local governments.

2) Amend provisions to prescribe that property information may also be disclosed through an information and communications network operated by the Ministry of Personnel Management in addition to the current practice of the public service ethics committee of each institution disclosing the property of public officials through an official gazette or public bulletin.

3) Prescribe grounds on which to unify the property disclosure channels into a single public service ethics system.

B. “Prescribe grounds on which to take action against, and commission investigations of, persons who have gained property or wealth using undisclosed information from their affiliated organization (Article 8 (7) 2 (a) and Article 8-2 (1) 4)”

1) Any person who gains wealth, etc., using confidential work-related information or undisclosed information from his or her affiliated organization has acquired the property in an unlawful manner and must be penalized.

2) Add unlawful acquisition of property using undisclosed information from an affiliated organization as grounds on which to file an investigation request with the Ministry of Justice and take punitive measures, such as submitting a request for a disciplinary decision or imposing administrative fines.

3) Promote greater effectiveness of measures to prevent unlawful acquisition of property by public officials.

C. “Prescribe grounds on which to make an exception from property registration for employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation and other public-service-related organizations that handle affairs or information associated with property (proviso of Article 3 (1) 12-2)” 

1) Employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation and other public-service-related organizations that handle property-related affairs or information include athletes, sanitation workers, and cooks, who are also liable for property registration.

2) Prescribe grounds on which to make an exception and exclude from the scope of property registration any person who is not actually involved in property-related affairs and for whom it is not possible to acquire information.

3) Streamline the scope of property registration and thereby enhance the acceptance of the system.

D. “Increase the scope of information provision regarding property registration to include motor vehicle ownership/registration and memberships (Article 6-5 (2), (3), and (4)”

1) Public service ethics committees are provided with motor vehicle/membership information from the relevant institutions for the purpose of property examination, but the information cannot be provided to persons liable for registration, as there are no legal grounds.

2) Add information on motor vehicle ownership and memberships to the scope of information that may be submitted by a central administrative agency, etc., to a public service ethics committee and then provided to persons liable for registration on request upon property registration.

3) Aim to improve convenience for persons liable for registration upon property registration by increasing the scope of information provision.

E. “Adjust the base date of the obligation fulfillment period for disposition, etc., when an application for change of position is submitted in relation to a blind trust of stocks (Article 14-13 (3))”

1) When a person who is obligated to sell stocks or place stocks in a blind trust applies for a change of position, the decision-making period for the change of position is two months. If the position is not changed, however, the period for fulfilling the obligation to sell stocks or place stocks in a blind trust commences one month after the date of application.

2) Align the deadline for position change decisions by the head of the affiliated institution with the base date of the period during which the applicant must fulfill his or her obligation to sell stocks or place stocks in a blind trust.

3) Ensure the effectiveness of the position change application system.