Road to Integrity Society Forum
By Ellyn Lewis
On Friday, July 6th2018, Transparency International-Korea in conjunction with the Korea Defense Industry Association held its Business Integrity Luncheon forum with the theme “Road to Integrity Society.” The meeting was attended by many persons from various sectors of society including Parliament, Civil Society, and Media such as: Song Yuong-moo, Minister of National Defense; Park Eun-jung, Chairperson of Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission; Jeon Jei-guk, Minister of Defense Acquisition Programme Administration; Lee Sun-hi, Chair of Transparency International-Korea (TI-Korea); Kim Young-hoo, the Vice Chair of the Korea Defense Industry Association (KDIA); and Kim Sang-keun, Chair of the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS).
In his welcoming speech, TI-Korea Chair, Lee Sun-hi, stated that “Businesses are a valuable asset of our nation, which provide resources to protect our people’s food and jobs as well as our peace…corruption is not just a matter of public or business, but of our society as well. Our esteemed and proud corporations have a responsibility to lead our country to an integrity society to protect our economy and security and to be competitive globally. ”
Additionally, Kim Young-hoo, Vice Chair of KDIA, in expressing his view that enhancing a transparent defense industry means an all hands on deck approach to self-imposed integrity management, stated that “…joint efforts by various sectors such as government, academia, etc. should follow.” He also called on the government to “…actively promote measures to improve the various systems and… eliminate unnecessary regulations in order to prevent negative incidents from occurring.”
Keynote Speaker, KBS Chair Kim Sang-keun, articulated his opinion based on recent events towards ensuring peace on the Korean peninsula: “We are opening the possibility of peace on the Korean peninsula and ending the Korean War. It is making a great transformation of human civilization in the 21st century. Let us look deeper and make the first step. Existing civilization, centering on windows and swords, has provided a means to satisfy human nature’s greed and pride. The corruption caused by this is the desperation to overcome in today’s clean society.”
Among the 110 attendees, the defense sector was also well represented by Noh Hoon, President of Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, Nam Se-gyu, President Agency for Defense Development, and Yi Chang-hee, President of Defense Agency for Technology and Quality, and all reaffirmed their commitment to increase transparency in their sector. We look forward to the continued enhancement of accountability and transparency in the Defense Industry.
