Lee chairs first anti-corruption policy meeting, targeting local graft and revolving-door ties

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday will chair the first Anti-Corruption Policy Council of the People's Sovereignty Government, convened to stamp out local graft and other forms of corruption.

The council, set to open at 3 p.m. Friday, is a ministerial-level body of anti-corruption agencies established to pursue the government's anti-graft measures in a comprehensive and systematic manner. It is the first such meeting since Lee took office.

Attendees will include the chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, the head of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, ministers from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and other related ministries, and the heads of 18 agencies — among them the Korea Fair Trade Commission, the Financial Services Commission, the National Tax Service, the acting commissioner of the Korean National Police Agency, the Board of Audit and Inspection and the National Intelligence Service.

The meeting will proceed in two sessions. In the first, the Ministry of Interior and Safety and the Korean National Police Agency will report on eradicating local corruption, while the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission and the Public Procurement Service will present on eliminating misconduct in public contracts.

In the second session, the Ministry of Planning and Budget, the Ministry of Interior and Safety and the Korea Customs Service will report on stamping out fraudulent subsidy claims and other forms of fiscal misconduct. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will address the eradication of revolving-door ties between former officials and the industries they once regulated. Each session will conclude with an open discussion after the reports.

Earlier, at a senior secretaries meeting he chaired at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday, Lee said "unceasing reform to correct the rule-breaking, unfairness and abnormalities that weigh down people's lives is more necessary than ever," adding that "when solidarity and trust across the entire community are strengthened through such efforts, the path toward an irreplaceable Republic of Korea will become all the more solid."

He went on to say that "acts that disrupt the economic order — such as hoarding, price-fixing, share price manipulation and fraudulent claims on public funds — as well as digital sex crimes, drug offenses, serious industrial accidents and corruption in public office cause great harm to people's lives and must be addressed with greater focus."