Police will reduce or waive disciplinary action for those who voluntarily report internal corruption to encourage whistleblowing within the organization. They also plan to expand cash rewards for reports.
The Korean National Police Agency said on the 10th that it will push to improve related systems to encourage internal corruption reports and strengthen the organization's self-cleansing function.
First, the agency will revise relevant rules so that those who voluntarily report internal corruption can have their discipline reduced or be exempted. The National Police Commission deliberated and approved the measure that day, and detailed enforcement rules of the police officials' disciplinary decree will be revised.
The agency will also promote a system that allows anonymous proxy reports through attorneys to protect a reporter's anonymity. The Korean National Police Agency will sign business agreements with related legal institutions and support the expense of legal counseling and proxy reporting.
Rewards for internal corruption reports will also increase. The reward budget is currently about 27 million won a year, and the plan is to expand it to 1 billion won.
Police said institutional improvements are needed because internal corruption is hard to uncover from the outside and it is not easy for those involved to report it themselves. A police official said, "We will push to improve related systems to strengthen the organization's self-cleansing function and encourage reports of internal corruption."