TI-Korea Vision and Values
Transparency:
Transparency implies a willingness and an openness to communicate in a way that is easy for others to see what actions are being performed. Transparency also means removing all barriers that inhibit access to information. In this way, people or organizations can be held accountable for the actions they take, and the process of building trust and understanding becomes easier. TI-Korea works to increase awareness of, and facilitate the change needed to increase transparency, both at a public and a private level. By increasing transparency across all levels, knowledge becomes easily accessible and thus allows for everyday participation in political processes by the media and the public. In summary, by improving transparency across all levels, TI-Korea seeks to enhance the Korean public’s participation in political processes, leaving all actions open for discussion and allowing for truly democratic decisions.
Integrity:
Integrity refers to ones internal consistency. It implies that people and organizations should carry out actions that are consistent with their beliefs and values. In the case of TI-Korea, we promote educational and cultural practices that advance ethics, morals and principles, thus placing ethics and morals at the forefront of our belief systems. In this way, acting with integrity becomes an action not only of honesty and of being true to one’s own beliefs, but it also becomes an ethical act, with an inherent awareness of how one’s actions affect others.
Democracy:
Democracy is a form of government, and a political process, that allows all citizens to participate equally and with self-determination. Korea is often held up as a beacon, a role model of successful economic and democratic development. The narrative goes that Korea climbed out of the troughs of poverty and war to become a global economic powerhouse with a flourishing democracy. However many remnants of Korea’s militaristic past remain, if not entrenched, then at the very least influential. TI-Korea places huge importance on activities that hold the government accountable and promotes actions that allow for free, un-biased and transparent elections, law legislation and other democratic processes.
Justice:
The concept of justice is essentially about fairness, and posits that all human beings are equal, and thus subject to the same treatment. TI Korea seeks justice by demanding that all people and organizations follow the same rules and regulations, and face the same consequences for any failure to follow these rules and regulations. In the context of Korea, justice not only means fair treatment for all in the present, but also atonement or reward for actions committed in the past. TI-Korea values justice, not just as a demand for the acknowledgement of unfair practices, but more importantly, as the recognition of people and organizations who work for the common good; justice is to reward those who work towards a more equal and fair society.
Accountability:
Accountability relates to answerability. It is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies. Transparency is inherently related to accountability. In other words, without accountability, transparency is impossible. Thus it falls to TI-Korea to not only hold individuals, government and organizations to account, but also to promote practices that push accountability as a common practice.
Solidarity:
Solidarity means working together, with common beliefs, interests and objectives, towards a common goal. Solidarity also refers to certain societal ties that bind people or groups together. TI-Korea realizes that the weeding out of corruption in society is a monumental task, that requires social cohesion and a mutual understanding across all levels of society. Both individually, and among groups, both at a public and a private level, solidarity is needed regarding corruption and how to overcome it.
Courage:
Courage is a concept that refers to ones willingness to confront fear, intimidation or uncertainty and to question the people or things that cause these emotions. In the context of TI-Korea, courage means having the fortitude to stand up against corrupt practices ? having the ability to act with integrity ? even if this action risks ones job or relationship, or means having to question someone in a position of influence. TI-Korea also manages educational programs that aim to empower and encourage people towards acting in a just way, and to make decisions for themselves.