KOTRA chief says integrity 'a basic duty' for public institutions

KOTRA President Kang Gyeong-seong met with employees to discuss ways to spread a culture of ethics and integrity within the organization, amid growing public expectations for accountability at state-run institutions.

KOTRA said Tuesday it held a "CEO Integrity Dialogue" session at its Seoul headquarters on Monday. The session's name — rendered in Korean as "heoheo" — reflects the spirit of candid, informal conversation. This year's subtitle was "Close the Distance, Build Integrity."

A total of 58 staff members from the headquarters and regional offices attended. The annual session, chaired by Kang himself, lets employees raise questions about ethics and integrity while the CEO shares his own experiences and views.

This year's gathering focused particularly on the challenges facing middle managers — those responsible for bridging senior leadership and junior staff. Participants discussed difficulties they encounter on the ground, generational differences in how integrity is perceived, and ethical judgment calls that arise in day-to-day work.

Kang shared his approach to communication as a middle manager and outlined his personal philosophy on ethics and integrity as the head of a public institution. He also exchanged views on building trust within an organization, drawing on his own career experience.

KOTRA designed the session not as a conventional training exercise but as a forum where employees could voice their opinions and collectively examine the organization's culture. The underlying message was that integrity does not stem from rules and systems alone, but begins with everyday work habits and how people communicate with one another.

One attendee said the session offered a rare opportunity to speak frankly about generational gaps in how integrity is understood in the workplace. "There are times when it's genuinely difficult to mediate between senior and junior colleagues as a middle manager," the employee said. "I felt this was a chance to share those concerns together."

Public institutions across South Korea have been moving to strengthen internal controls and ethical management frameworks. As public scrutiny has intensified, organizations are placing greater emphasis on employees' voluntary compliance and preventive systems over after-the-fact audits.

KOTRA adopted "Integrity of Heart, Fairness in Action" as its ethics management slogan this year and has been conducting activities to review internal ethical standards and raise staff awareness of compliance obligations.

The agency is also reinforcing its institutional foundations. Having introduced ISO 37001, the anti-bribery management system standard, last year, KOTRA is now adding ISO 37301, the compliance management system standard, this year. The goal is to build an ethics and compliance framework aligned with international standards and strengthen accountability as a public institution.

"Integrity is a fundamental duty that every employee of a public institution must uphold, and it can only be fully realized when members of the organization share that conviction and act on it voluntarily," Kang said. "Based on the candid thoughts and experiences shared today, we will deepen our internal culture of integrity and become an institution that the public can trust even more — guided by the principles of open communication, listening and mutual respect."