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[Press Release] Korea seeks ways for a more open government on the occasion of the Open Government Week
- Admin
- 2022-05-16
Korea seeks ways for a more open government on the occasion of the Open Government Week
- Open Government Forum Korea organizes a public-private joint event from May 16 to 20, 2022 -
□ The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS, Minister Lee Sang-min) announced that Open Government Week Dialogue would be held from May 16 to May 20, 2022, on the occasion of the global Open Government Week, to seek ways for a more open government of Korea.
○ The Open Government Week is organized by the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to spread the values of open government such as transparency, anti-corruption, and citizen participation worldwide and shed light on innovators who cooperate with governments.
○ Since its launch in 2018, more than 70 countries have hosted at least 1,300 Open Government Week events. They have leveraged the events as an opportunity to promote open government values and principles and implement their action plans. For example, Estonia introduced digital tools to combat corruption by hosting the e-Governance Conference, while the Dominican Republic launched its two-year action plan for open government.
□ Korea had joined this international movement to make government more open since 2011, when the OGP was launched. This year, Open Government Forum Korea (OGFK), a multi-stakeholder forum composed of leaders and practitioners in government and civil society, which leads Korea’s activities for open government, will host a public-private joint event to look back on efforts to push open government forward and discuss future directions on the occasion of the Open Government Week 2022.
○ The joint event is more meaningful as it will deepen the international discussion the members had at the 2021 OGP Global Summit chaired by Korea in Seoul.
□ At the Open Government Week Dialogue under the theme of open government values and action on May 16 (Mon), panelists from government, civil society, academia, and international organization as well as students, will take part in and revisit the open government activities of Korea, find ways forward, and explore how to improve Korea’s co-creation process for national action plans.
○ The Co-chair of OGFK, Lee Sang-hak, who is the Co-chairperson of Transparency International Korea, will be the moderator. The panelists include Senior Regional Coordinator of Asia and the Pacific of OGP Alan Wu, Deputy Director of OGP’s IRM* Tinatin Ninua, Board member of OpenNet Park Ji-hwan, Secretary of Citizens Coalition for Better Government Park Su-Jeong, and Son Seong-min who is a college student. They will share the perspectives of government, civil society, international organizations, and the youth.
* OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism: an independent organization that assesses the design and implementation of the two–year national action plans of OGP members.
○ In addition, the event will kick off with a moderator introducing what citizens think of open government, which a social event has collected prior to the Open Government Week.
□ After the panel discussion on the first day of the week, the Forum on Digital Platform Government and Citizens’ Participation and the Seminar on People’s Right to Know and Better Open Government Commitments are scheduled for May 18 and May 20, respectively, to discuss digital governance, participation, and anti-corruption.
○ At the Forum on Digital Platform Government and Citizens’ Participation on May 18, Wednesday, the present and future of digital platform government will be presented by Professor Choi Kyeong-Jin of Gachon University and Director Kwon Oh-hyeon of Parti, a social cooperative, Activist Lee Jun-soo of Code for Korea, Senior researcher Oh Yeon-ju of National Information Society Agency, and Co-president Shin Min-soo of Digital Innovation Policy Forum will discuss the digital platform and participation of citizens.
○ At the Seminar on People’s Right to Know and Better Open Government Commitments on May 20, Friday, Professor Lim Jae-hong of Korean National Open University and Lee Seon-jung, a senior researcher at Seoul Institute for Transparency of the University of Seoul, will discuss open government commitments to make them more ambitious which are the protection of whistle-blowers implemented by the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission and the status and development of laying the groundwork for civil society implemented by the MOIS. Professor Park Kyeong-shin of Korea University will give a presentation on conflict between a Special Act on Industrial Technology and the National High-tech Strategic Industry and open government.
□ The event will take place at Dongdaemun Design Plaza(DDP) 2F, and online participation is available. Anyone interested in open government can participate in the event by registering here at https://forms.gle/H4yCWh1KxaNtgBN99
○ Moreover, other international events can be found on the official website of the Open Government Week (www.opengovweek.org/map/).
□ The OGP is a global coalition of democracies as well as a multi-stakeholder forum composed of leaders and practitioners in governments and civil society, aiming to promote a transparent government where everyone can have their voices heard. It has 77 member countries, including Korea, and thousands of civil societies work together. The governments and civil society members of the OGP are required to jointly design and implement two-year national action plans for open government.
○ After joining the OGP in 2011, when it was launched, Korea has been serving as a member of the Steering Committee, a decision-making body, since 2017 and served as the 11th Co-Chair of OGP. Countries such as the US, the UK, France, and Canada have served as a Co-Chair representing the coalition of democracies.
○ MOIS launched the OGFK, a multi-stakeholder forum composed of the government and civil societies, to spread the values of open government and be in line with the international standards. The OGFK designs, implements, and evaluates the national action plan for the open government every two years.
□ The Co-chair of OGFK and the Co-chair of Transparency International Korea Lee Sang-hak noted, “It takes public sympathy, changes in culture, and individual awareness to achieve open government. We will take the Open Government Week as an opportunity to promote the values of open government and have the voices of the citizens and civil societies who work together with the government heard better.”
□ Vice Minister of MOIS Han Chang-seob also noted, “Korea is a country that has been advancing open government since it joined the coalition of democracies in 2011.” He then added, “We will continue our effort to realize the values of open government, including transparency, anti-corruption, and civic participation so that democracy in Korea can be further strengthened.”
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