BackThe Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) announced the basic plan for the 2026 Comprehensive Integrity Assessment for Public Institutions on Feb. 11th.
The Comprehensive Integrity Assessment for Public Institutions is one of the major anti-corruption institutions designed to diagnose the level of integrity and corruption-prone areas within the public sector from the people’s perspective, hence improve institutions and practices to realize fair and accountable administration that citizens can tangibly experience.
2026 Comprehensive Integrity Assessment will target 580 public institutions, including central administrative agencies, local governments, offices of education, public corporations, quasi-governmental organizations, public medical institutions, and local councils.
To ensure the sustainability of anti-corruption reforms, particularly, the assessment will expand its target and include more national and public universities, supporting younger generations in internalizing the values of fairness and accountability.
Last year's assessment of national and public universities covered 16 universities which recruit more than 2,500 freshmen. The number of universities will increase this year, covering a total of 33 institutions of 29 four-year national and public universities and 4 science and technology institutes.
For basic councils, the assessment plan is to focus on institutions that received lower grades (grades 4 and 5) last year.
Furthermore, for local corporations and public institutions under metropolitan governments, the number of target institutions will increase from last year's 19 – directly handling real estate – to 33 this year by adding institutions which managing transportation, urban railways, and infrastructure, to improve corruption risk areas in local fields.
The Comprehensive Integrity Assessment for public institutions decides the rank of public institutions by combining the results of assessments in following areas: Integrity Perception, Integrity Effort, and Integrity Penalty Areas.
The Integrity Perception is measured through surveys of citizens who have directly experienced the institution's main services, as well as employees regarding their perceptions and experiences of corruption. The Integrity Effort evaluates the institution's anti-corruption initiatives, such as improvements on corruption-prone areas. Finally, the “Integrity Penalty” was previously assessed separately as corruption status evaluation of each areas until last year. This year, however, they have been integrated and reorganized to enhance the consistency of the assessment system.
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Source: Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), South Korea
