PM calls for crackdown on corrupt officials

SEOUL, June 15 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik called for stricter discipline for public officials Wednesday as a number of former and incumbent ranking government officials came under scrutiny for allegedly taking bribes from a troubled savings bank.
"Public officials should not cause a setback to state management because of relaxed attitudes as the government is in its fourth year in power," Kim said in a luncheon meeting with auditors from 38 central government offices.
"This year is a critical one for the government to resolve piles of pending issues and reap the fruits of the efforts it has made so far."
He instructed the government to conduct thorough inspections into possible work-related corruption by public officials, stressing that improper acts or corruption by an individual civil servant can damage public trust in the government.
The prime minister, in particular, called for public officials' political neutrality ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections next year.
The Prime Minister's Office said in a press statement that it will launch an intensive crackdown from next month on public officials who are politically active or violate the ethics code.
On Tuesday, prosecutors said they were probing a former aide to President Lee Myung-bak in connection with the ever-widening influence-peddling scandal involving Busan Savings Bank.
Kim Hae-su, who worked as a presidential secretary on political affairs from September 2009 till early this year, is suspected of receiving tens of millions of won from the bank in return for business favors, the prosecutors said.
sshim@yna.co.kr