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Busan Metropolitan City: Labor and Management Representatives Unite to Pledge Realization of Korea’s No. 1 Integrity City

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it held the “Labor-Management Joint Anti-Corruption and Integrity Pledge Ceremony” at 10:15 a.m. on April 10 in the International Protocol Hall of City Hall.

The ceremony was arranged for Mayor Park Heong-joon and Kim Myung-soo, Chair of the Busan Government Employees’ Union, to represent labor and management in pledging to take the lead in realizing a clean public service, and to promote a culture of voluntary integrity practices among all employees.

The event proceeded with the signing of the anti-corruption and integrity pledge followed by a declaration of commitment to integrity. The pledge includes commitments to comply with laws and principles as public officials, prioritize the public interest over private gain, and strive to create a mutually respectful organizational culture free from abuse of power and workplace harassment.

Using this ceremony as a starting point, the City plans to sequentially encourage participation in the integrity pledge from senior officials to all employees, thereby spreading a culture of integrity practices throughout the organization.

In March, the City established the “2026 Busan Metropolitan City Anti-Corruption and Integrity Policy Implementation Plan” and is promoting a variety of integrity initiatives that citizens can tangibly experience.

This plan focuses on strengthening the foundation for integrity practices within the public sector while simultaneously implementing transparent and fair administration that citizens can perceive.

The City operates the “Integrity Happy Call” program, which targets citizens (external customers) who have experienced administrative services of Busan Metropolitan City, to verify whether services were handled transparently and fairly.

This year, the City introduced “Integrity Communication Talk,” a KakaoTalk-based survey system, which is being conducted in parallel with the “Integrity Happy Call.” Results from a pilot operation in March showed higher response rates and strong public engagement compared to the existing telephone-based method. The City plans to enhance the effectiveness of integrity policies by reflecting citizens’ feedback in real time through this system.

Additionally, starting in mid-April, the City will implement “On-site Integrity Consulting” for all employees to improve public perception of integrity and strengthen integrity capabilities.

In March, the Chair of the Audit Committee and officials from the Integrity Policy Division obtained certification as internal integrity instructors from the National Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s training institute, and intensive consulting will be conducted focusing on departments with relatively low external perception of integrity.

Furthermore, to identify corruption-vulnerable areas and derive improvement tasks, the City will conduct Focus Group Interviews (FGI) with internal staff and external experts. One to two participants will be selected from each bureau and department considering rank and job series, forming four groups of 8 to 10 members (three internal and one external) to collect diverse opinions. Based on these findings, the City plans to identify corruption-prone areas by next month and prioritize improvement tasks.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “By making integrity the fundamental and top priority value in city administration, labor and management will jointly strengthen their commitment to practice and expand a fair and transparent organizational culture throughout the public sector,” adding, “We will continue to do our utmost to make Busan a city recognized by citizens as No. 1 in integrity.”