Learning Note No. 2 Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement For Enhanced Public Accountability —The Korean Experience You-Jin Bae, Seung Won Choi, Min Jeong Kim, and Seongjun Kim Professor Seungwon Choi teaches at the Law School of Ewha Womans University. His research focuses on public law, IT law, and local autonomy. His main works include “Local Autonomy and Online Administration Appeal,” “E-Government and Knowledge Administration,” “Individual and State in Cyberspace,” among others. His research interests include: the “Study on the Introduction of Online Administrative Appeal System” and the “Administrative Appeal Hub System Establishment Project (1st–3rd),” commissioned by the Ministry of Government Legislation and the Anti-Corruption and the Civil Rights Commission respectively. He received his Master’s degree and Doctorate in public law from Seoul National University. Dr. Youjin Bae is a research fellow of the Social Security Information Service. Her research focuses on administrative law, IT law, and social welfare law. Her research areas include, among others, “Structuring Legal Content Based on Electronic Documents—Application to Online Administrative Appeal,” “Enhancing the Normative Power of Administrative Disposition on Providing the Juvenile Alcoholic Drink,” and “The Need for the Management of Social Contribution Knowledge and Convergence Legislation,” which take a pragmatic approach to knowledge management related to law and welfare through data structuring. Her research projects are “Administrative Appeal Hub System Establishment Project (1st–3rd)” and “Anti-Corruption Information System BPR/ISP” ordered by the Ministry of Government Legislation.
 She received her Master’s degree and Doctorate in administrative law (IT law) from Ewha Womans University. Ms. Minjeong Kim is a research fellow in the Audit and Inspection Research Institute (AIRI) affiliated with the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) of Korea. Her work focuses on IT laws and public audit. Her most recent paper is “Stakeholders’ approach on government auditing in the supreme audit institutions of Japan and Korea (financial accountability and management).” Ms. Kim earned a Master’s degree in public law from Ewha Womans University, Korea and is a doctoral student at the Philipps University of Marburg, Germany. Dr. Seongjun Kim is a Senior Public Sector Specialist at Governance Global Practice at the World Bank (WB). Before joining the WB, he was Director-General for research at the Audit and Inspection Research Institute (AIRI), a research arm of the Board of Audit & Inspection of Korea. His areas of expertise are public audit system, audit policy, audit methodologies, and capacity building of audit institution. He was also an expert member of OECD Audit Committee from 2013–2015. Dr. Kim has engaged in a number of international cooperation and training activities including BAI’s ASOSAI Secretariat Affairs. Dr. Kim has received his Ph.D. in Economics from New York University and has a degree in Master of Arts in Economics from Seoul National University, Korea. The authors and the World Bank team would like to thank the peer reviewers: Mr. Keith W. McLean, Lead Governance Specialist and Mr. Stephen R. Davenport, Senior Governance Specialist, The World Bank for their time and valuable contributions to the paper. The World Bank team is grateful to the Korean Development Institute (KDI) Trust Fund for the funding provided. For more information about this learning note please contact Ms. Carolina Luisa Vaira, Senior Governance Specialist, The World Bank. © 2019 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this work is subject to copyright. Because The World Bank encourages dissemination of its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given. Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to World Bank Publications, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2625; e-mail:pubrights@worldbank.org. Contents / i Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Participatory Audit in Korea and the Use of ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen 2.  Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Factors Constraining Expansion of Citizen Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Evolution of Participatory Audit in Korea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Online Platform of the Board of Audit and Inspection: Operation Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Achievements and Further Challenges of the BAI Online Audit Information Management System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Leveraging ICT Platforms for Protecting People’s Rights 3.  and Interests against Government’s Decisions: The Online Administrative Appeals Hub System of the Central Administrative Appeals Commission . . . . . . . . .13 Introducing ICT Tools to Foster the Use of the Administrative Appeal Remedy . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Power of Knowledge Management of Administrative Appeals Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Content Structuralization through Data Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Customized Knowledge Services to Different Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Achievements and Further Challenges of the Online Administrative Appeals Hub System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 4. Lessons Learned and Concluding Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Appendix A. Provisions on Online Administrative Appeals, Excerpts from the Administrative Appeals Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Introduction / 1 1 Introduction In representative democracy citizens hold the government accountable directly by voting or indirectly by delegating necessary mandates to other nongovernment “ entities of the accountability ecosystem, such as the courts of law, the anticorruption In Korea, agency, or the supreme audit institution (SAI). As an attempt to overcome the apparent limitations of the direct accountability approach and to strengthen the indirect citizens’ accountability channels, citizens participate in public processes by making their voices willingness to heard in both government activities and in the oversight of such activities. participate has However, it is often found that nations encounter constraints when trying to expand been realized direct citizen participation in public matters. Common challenges of effective citizen engagement can be clustered around three main issues: through the support of both ◆ a how to implement citizen engagement mechanisms and strategies in an online and off- efficient and sustainable way (volume); ◆b how to achieve positive impacts (private interests); and line participation ” methods. ◆ citizen engagement as an act of tokenism (knowledge gap). c how to reach the level of de facto citizen empowerment from the use of 1 In trying to solve these challenges, countries around the world, including the Republic of Korea, have started paying more attention to the role of the information and communication technology (ICT) platform, or civic tech as it is called, to contribute to a desirable form of citizen engagement by transforming it into a more transparent, inclusive, scalable, and cost-effective process (Manroth and others 2014; Peixoto and Sifry 2017). However, in practice the results vary and, in some cases, good efforts around openness and participation run short of meeting heightened citizens’ expectations and demands. 1  See Arnstein 1969 and Damgaard and Lewis 2014 on a ladder of citizen participation. 2  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience Following the development of democracy in Korea, citizens’ analyzes participatory practices and examines how the use willingness to participate has been realized through the of ICT platforms contributed to enhance public outreach by support of both online and off-line participation methods; making citizen engagement in public accountability more new online measures have been added to the old off-line cost-effective, scalable, transparent, and inclusive. measures without replacing them, thereby producing synergy effects. The learning note targets accountability institutions (such as supreme audit institutions, anticorruption agencies, This learning note aims to document the experience of and so on), as well as representatives from civil society the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAI) and the organizations and citizens around the world interested in online administrative appeals hub system of Korea’s Central knowing more about the experience of Korea, including Administrative Appeals Commission (CAAC) in leveraging the challenges and opportunities, in leveraging ICT ICT platforms for citizen engagement. The note both tools to foster citizen engagement for enhanced public accountability. Participatory Audit in Korea and the Use of ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement  /  3 2 Participatory Audit in Korea and the Use of ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement Public auditing is a professional activity that ensures accountability for the government’s execution of its budget and for authorities on behalf of citizens. From the normative perspective, citizen participation in public audits can be justified under the condition that SAIs can maintain independence from auditees, keep political neutrality, and adhere to the relevant professional standards because citizens delegate the auditing authority and responsibility to the SAIs.2 At the practical level, citizens— as the beneficiaries of public policy and services—may act as the eyes and ears of professional auditors and thereby contribute to ensuring government accountability by reducing audit blind spots, delving into policy failures, and helping to improve government services (Kim 2016). In other words, citizen participation in public audits means opening the public audit process—which has been carried out by professional and dedicated auditors within the bureaucracy—to ordinary citizens and their opinion leaders such as civil society organizations. In this way, citizen participation plays a vital role in protecting the rights and interests of citizens, fighting corruption, and enhancing accountability and performance of the public sector.3 SAIs are increasingly shifting toward performance audits that examine whether budgets are used effectively, efficiently, and economically and are shifting away from financial audits with a traditional focus on compliance to existing rules and regulations. Thus, the importance of having SAIs cooperate with citizens is even greater today. The Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea is one of the pioneers SAIs around the world in this area of engaging citizens in the audit process, as explained in detail in the following section of this note. The BAI has gone through the information and 2  See Damgaard and Lewis 2014 on the virtue of participatory accountability mechanisms. 3  See EIP 2014 for more examples of benefits of SAI engagement with citizens. 4  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience consultation stages and has now reached the stage of in the discontinuation of existing citizen engagement partnership for decision making with citizens. The BAI takes schemes or in a formalistic and minimal operation of advice on its audit direction and formally receives audit citizen engagement programs to meet only mandatory requests from citizens. In addition, it takes tips on fraud, requirements. waste, or mismanagement of public funds along with civil petitions and complaints from citizens (Kim 2016). As government operations continue to become more specialized and complex, and as work boundaries also become blurred because of overlapping authorities Factors Constraining Expansion among government agencies, the disparity in access to of Citizen Engagement information—and thus in knowledge, understanding, and Before going into the practical case of the BAI, in which professionalism—grows between the government and new ICT was leveraged to expand its citizen engagement citizens on the one hand and among differing groups of practice, it is necessary to first examine the factors that citizens on the other hand. The disparity among citizens constrain citizen engagement in audits. Compared with may restrict them from playing an independent oversight other stakeholders, such as parliament, the government, role or from reaching substantial citizen empowerment; or internal audit units, donors, and civil society organizations, the disparity may lead to growing inequality of the socially citizens pose fundamental challenges to communication underprivileged. including, among other issues, the vast amount of participation by individual citizens, uncontrolled private So, the key question in leveraging the ICT platform for interests, and a gap in professionalism. citizen engagement in public auditing can be singled out as whether and how ICT can help the auditing body better The development of democracy has greatly enhanced respond to these constraints. The experience of the Korea citizens’ desire to participate. The amount of citizen BAI, one of the first around the world to leverage an ICT engagement entails considerable costs on the side of platform for engaging with citizens, is examined to help the citizens in time and effort devoted and significant answer this question while documenting in a practical administrative costs on the side of the SAIs, including more manner the challenges and opportunities encountered by staff hours used by the auditing body to respond to citizens. the SAI throughout the process. If a citizen engagement scheme is introduced without proper backup of SAIs’ dedicated staff responsible for The Evolution of Participatory Audit handling citizen engagement, the auditing body will not in Korea be able to respond to citizen participation in time. The As mentioned earlier, citizen engagement is actively participating citizens’ satisfaction and trust will eventually taking place at each of the major audit cycles of the BAI as lower, which will damage the cooperative relationship explained in table 1. between the citizens and the auditing body. Failure to respond to citizens in time will become more problematic Moreover, figure 1 explains that citizen engagement is when coupled with the private interests of participating not just a recent phenomenon but has gradually evolved citizens. over a long time since the establishment of the BAI. Since its inception in 1963 as the result of merging the Board of Also, a citizen engagement scheme should not be Audit (the national audit agency) and the Commission of introduced without adequate measures to control risks Inspection (the national inspection agency), the BAI has associated with various private-interest issues in advance. been expanding and developing its communications with If the scheme is introduced without those measures, not citizens. The BAI Act of 1963 gave the BAI a mandate of only will it fail to produce performance proportionate to reviewing and making judgments on citizens’ appeals in the use of the SAI’s scarce human resources, but also it will which citizens claimed they were infringed on by unlawful cause the involved auditors to lose confidence in the value government administrative dispositions or by the inaction and validity of citizen engagement. This will result either of public authorities. This adjudication function had not Participatory Audit in Korea and the Use of ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement  /  5 TABLE 1. Types of Citizen Engagement at the Board of Audit and Inspection, by Audit Stage Audit Stage Types of Citizen Engagement Audit planning • Citizen Audit Request (CAR), Audit Request for Public Interests (ARPI) (what to audit) • Civil petitions and complaints • Advisory Committee for the BAI chairman (semiannual consultation) • Annual consultation on audit plan from external subject matter experts Audit • Participation of outside professionals and experts on audit team preparation/ • Solicitation of information on specific audits from citizens implementation • Disclosure of audit progress on the BAI website (how to audit) • Press briefings on intermediate audit results Audit reporting • Disclosure of audit reports on the BAI website • Press briefings on the key audit results • Notification of investigation results to the requesting citizens Audit results Disclosure of the status of implementation of the audit recommendation on the BAI website follow-up Note: The practice of soliciting audit-related information from citizens is called an “open audit system,” in which audits scheduled to be conducted on specific public organizations, programs, or policies are announced to the public on the BAI website. An open audit is usually taken when great public interest and outcry on the audit issues exist. existed in the organic laws of the Board of Audit and the Commission of Inspection. The BAI thus had a channel ◆ a to protect the rights of the people, for official communications with citizens. To protect the rights of citizens and business enterprises and to improve ◆ b to detect and punish corruption in the public sector, government administration, the appeals request system is tasked with examining the decisions of government ◆ improve public management, c to correct improper administrative actions and agencies that are subject to the audit of the BAI when the stakeholders of such decisions file a request for examination ◆d to resolve citizens’ dissatisfaction or conflicts, and, with the BAI for corrective measures. of course, In addition, citizens have complained to the BAI about the ◆ figure 2). e to support audit operations (BAI 2013) (see government’s decisions. They want the government to remedy the damages citizens have suffered to their rights and interests. The BAI’s investigations on such complaints Considering the reality of Korean society, where internal have often been conducted, if necessary, in connection whistle blowing does not work well because of the deep- with audits. Against this backdrop, some cases regarding rooted tradition that respects loyalty as the prime value, it the BAI’s online platform operation for supporting citizen is very important to oversee government activities through participation will be set forth, with a close look at civil active citizen participation. Citizen engagement, therefore, petitions and complaints. helps expand the extension of audits by involving citizens not as bystanders but as partners. As such, citizens provide The purpose of operating citizen engagement in the motivation and a lead to auditors to conduct audits that auditing process is quite broad and includes: benefit citizens as individuals and as members of society (Park 2003, 267). 6  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience FIGURE 1. Milestones for Citizen Engagement in the BAI’s Audit Process Citizen participation mechanism Off-line Online resources platform • Citizen complaints reception (1963) • 188 Hotline (1993) • Honorary citizen auditor (1995) Citizen • Open audit (1996) participation • Audit request for public interests (1996) mechanism • Citizen audit request (2002) • Disclosure of audit report (2003) • Disclosure of implementation of recommendation (2017) • Civil petition reception center (1971) • Division for civil petition (1980) Off-line • Civil petition center in Gwanghwamun (1993) resources • Audit request investigation group (2005) • Audit request investigative bureau (2009) • Regional offices (2009) • BAI web page (1996) • e-Audit management system (2006) Online • Link to e-People system (2010) platform • Citizen audit information management system (2015) • Integrated e-audit management system (2016) FIGURE 2. Diverse Objectives of Citizen Engagement BAI’s reception of Audits requested by Citizen audit request and civil petitions and the National Assembly audit request for public interests complaints Degree of public interest Handling of personal grievances Participatory Audit in Korea and the Use of ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement  /  7 The number of civil petitions and complaints received year. The drastic increase in the 1990s, more than four by the BAI has trended upward over time. During the times compared with the 1980s, was driven by ongoing 1960s, the BAI received 956 civil complaints annually, democratization in all areas of Korean society (see figure 3). which increased slowly to 1,168 in the 1970s and 1,502 in This development during the 1990s triggered (a) citizens’ the 1980s; but the number jumped sharply in 1993 and desire to express their needs and interests in the form remained around 10,000 for the rest of the 1990s. Since the of civil petitions and complaints and (b) the BAI’s active 1990s, the numbers have averaged around 10,000 every response to the needs of citizens. FIGURE 3. Annual Civil Petitions and Complaints Received by the BAI, 1990–2017 16,000 14,000 12,000 Number of cases 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 90 95 00 05 10 15 17 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 More specifically, in March 1993, the BAI established a In the meantime, civil complaints and petitions could be Civil Petition and Complaint Reception Center in the well- reported online through the BAI website for the first time in known Gwanghwamun area in Seoul.4 In December of 2000. When first introduced, the online reporting accounted the same year, the 188 hotline was installed to receive for 13.6 percent of the total reports in 2000. Since then, it allegations of fraud, abuse of power, and any other audit- has increased rapidly, exceeding 50 percent of the total related information from citizens. Accordingly, the number reports in 2006 and thereby making the online platform of citizen reports increased explosively from 2,305 in 1992 the most frequently used channel of citizen participation to 13,262 in 1993. However, within a few years the upward (figure 4). trend reversed and fell to the level of 6,400 in 2002. (See figure 3). This decrease could be partly attributed to the The number of citizen complaints and petitions has BAI’s lack of organizational readiness and of required remained around 11,000 since 2007. This steady number is personnel to respond in a timely manner to such an due partly to the increased accessibility of online reception explosive increase. and to the BAI’s efforts to strengthen its person-to-person interaction with citizens. For instance, the BAI established the Audit Requests Investigation Group in 2005, which was 4  The Gwanghwamun area is a very popular place for Koreans and is well known for a series of large-scale citizen protests and events such as the Can- expanded again in 2009. The BAI also had established six dlelight Revolution in late 2016 and World Cup street cheering. regional centers across the country by 2013. 8  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience FIGURE 4. Different Channels of Civil Petitions and Complaints Received by the BAI 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Internet Mail Visit Fax Telephone Referral Online Platform of the Board of Audit on how to handle the citizen complaints and notify the requester of the decision promptly. For this purpose, the BAI and Inspection: Operation Status intended to focus exclusively on auditable complaints and In light of apparent success in responding to the explosive thus developed some criteria to distinguish auditable civil expansion of citizen participation, more difficult challenges complaints from nonauditable ones.5 were confronted by the BAI, which was forced to think of other channels to engage with the public. When citizens On the new Audit Information Reporting Center set up on file complaints to the BAI to report improper actions or the BAI website, citizens could file their own cases in four inaction by government agencies or public officers, they steps: expect that their own cases will be processed in a fair, timely, and transparent manner and will be handled directly by the BAI. But the reality was far from meeting those ◆ a select an area for reporting, citizens’ expectations. The BAI staff members could not keep up with the more than 10,000 new cases they received ◆ b agree to the terms and conditions, every year, and they had to send more than 50 percent of ◆ information, and c submit a personal profile and the audit citizen complaints to the internal audit units of the relevant government agencies. The morale of the BAI staff members who handled citizen complaints at the Audit Requests ◆ d complete reporting. Investigation Bureau was low because they had to handle After completing the consent procedure to collect and use all sorts of complaints, including personal grievances. It was personal information in accordance with the provisions of also a big challenge to precisely track the processing of the Personal Information Protection Act, citizens submit a 11,000 cases and report the results in time to the requesters. civil petition or complaint through the online platform. (See In other words, the BAI needed a much more systematic figure 5.) That step is completed when the personal profile approach to handle more than 10,000 cases annually and to of the submitter and the contents of the audit information meet the expectations of the citizens. to report are stored with the necessary supporting documents. The notification of receipt (including the receipt Against this backdrop, in 2015 the BAI introduced the number) is automatically sent by SMS message on the Audit Information Management System, an ICT platform system. The progress of processing the complaint and of for citizen participation designed to systematically handle the processing of citizens’ audit requests and complaints and petitions. The BAI also needed to reengineer citizen 5  The BAI established this procedure by revising and enacting the Regula- tions on the Processing of Civil Petitions and Complaints and the Regula- engagement in such a way that the BAI could decide early tions on the Processing of Received Audit Information, respectively. Participatory Audit in Korea and the Use of ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement  /  9 FIGURE 5. Audit Information Reporting Center Page of the BAI Website Reporting audit information section Guidance on audit information submission • What you can report as audit information • What cannot be accepted • Procedures • Submission channel • Contact information—BAI regional offices Download “BAI regulation on handling civil petition and complaints” and “BAI regulation on handling audit information” the investigation result for the submitted audit information The system automatically assigns a registration code to the can be checked by the submitter through the BAI website, submitted audit information report. Each code contains thereby making it easy to see BAI’s handling of the audit basic information such as registration year, applicable information. If submitters wish, they can be notified of the field, cumulative number, and distinction between audit receipt and the investigation result by mail. information and a purely private petition or complaint, 10  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience details into the system. Therefore, those submitters also BOX 1. Effect of Launching an Online Civil can check the progress of handling the submission on Petition and Complaints System: Sinmungo the BAI website.6 For those civil petitions and complaints With the launch of the participatory government in referred to the BAI through Sinmungo or e-People (box 1), 2003, Sinmungo (epeople.go.kr), or the government- the online civil complaints and petitions hub for the Korean wide system for civil petitions and complaints, was set government, citizens are also able to check the progress up as a top priority of the e-government road map and result of investigations on both the BAI and e-People to unify government centers for civil petitions and websites. The BAI receives approximately 800 civil petitions complaints and to eliminate duplicate submission of and complaints annually through e-People. civil petitions and complaints. As a result, about 15,000 annual submissions in 2003 have decreased to less than When an audit information report is registered with the 5,000 annually. The processing period has decreased by system, a BAI staff member reviews the submission contents more than half—from 44 days to 22 days on average. to see if the submission contains auditable information Source: Kim 2007. and if the selection of the area is appropriate. (See figures 6 and 7.) After that, the audit information report is transferred to the audit unit assigned for the investigation. All these so that more than 10,000 submissions each year can be systematically and efficiently managed without error. In 6  In the case of the Citizen Audit Request or the Audit Request for Public Inter- case citizens make submissions through off-line channels ests, an audit request can be received only through off-line channels because such as mail, visit, or telephone, each of the submissions of the need to verify that the required 300 or more requesters have made the audit request. Even for this audit request it is possible to check the progress is automatically given a code and managed in the system through the BAI website. In digital governance, however, seeking public inter- when BAI staff members input the audit information est audits could be sought in more efficient and accountable ways. FIGURE 6. Procedure for Handling the Audit Information Reporting of Review of Work Notification Reception Investigation the investigation submission assignment of the result result FIGURE 7. Internal Management Page of the BAI Audit Information Management System • Handling receipts • Receipts from all channels • Work assignment • Reporting results • Processing status • Statistics • Form printing • Inspection information • Audit information submitted by auditors • Search audit information cases • Handling time Participatory Audit in Korea and the Use of ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement  /  11 procedures—internal review and reporting of the result of With the Audit Information Management System, the BAI fieldwork, notification of the final results to the submitter management set an ambitious goal of handling all the and related organizations, check for delayed reporting, and received audit information within the BAI and not tossing production of key statistics—are carried out in the system around the citizen requests to other government agencies. so that reporting is timely and errors from manual handling According to the BAI, the ratio of civil complaints transferred are eliminated. to other relevant government authorities has decreased significantly from around 40 percent to below 20 percent (figure 8), which was possible in part because of improved Achievements and Further Challenges internal management and control under the new audit of the BAI Online Audit Information information management system, as well as the strong Management System leadership shown by top management. Citizens’ accessibility has been dramatically improved by the introduction of the online audit information management During 2016 and 2017, the BAI handled 19,560 audit system and its link with the governmentwide e-People information reports submitted by citizens. Among those, system. The citizens no longer need to worry about where 144 cases (0.7 percent) resulted in audits; 1,787 cases and when they should file their petitions or complaints, as (8.6 percent) resulted in a simple resolution or corrective long as they have access to the Internet. The BAI, in turn, measures that did not require full investigation; 6,026 cases is now able to more efficiently manage the process of (30.8 percent) resulted in closing after investigation handling more than 10,000 civil petitions and complaints (but without any material outcome); and 8,092 cases received through various channels. In addition, by providing (41.4 percent) resulted in closing by decision because the follow-up service to those who submitted petitions or complaint was ineligible or too trivial. complaints, the BAI is able to minimize delays caused by mistakes of the responsible staff and to promptly notify the An encouraging note is that 144 audits were triggered submitters of the progress and results of processing the civil by the audit information reports provided by citizens petitions and complaints. In addition, because citizens can during 2016 and 2017 (box 2). But the outcomes also check the progress of their petitions or complaints at any raise a concern about whether the limited BAI audit time, processing civil petitions and complaints has become resources are well spent; more than 70 percent of the more transparent, and a user-friendly system for the citizens cases the BAI handled were closed without any concrete has been created. At the society level, cost savings are great results after investigation or did not even necessitate an because the processing of duplicate submissions of civil investigation. So far, the use of the online platform of petitions and complaints is avoided. the audit information management system appears to FIGURE 8. Types of Civil Petitions and Complaints Processed by the Board of Audit and Inspection, 2013–17 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Auditing Closing by decision Transfer In progress 12  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience have been focused on improving convenience for the BOX 2: Improvement of Service Delivery through participating citizens and increasing efficiency in the BAI’s Citizen’s Voices handling of citizen participation, an effort that tackles the The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) of volume factor. The challenge for the BAI, therefore, is how Korea has reinforced government’s preventive to leverage the technological potential of ICT for removing health care initiative by introducing a reimbursable more fundamental constraints on citizen participation. cancer screening test scheme and by extending In other words, the challenge is how to leverage the ICT the types of cancer screening tests that the public platform further so that the BAI may extract more publicly health insurance system supports. In 2016, a citizen interested results from the audit information reports that petitioner submitted a complaint through the BAI are submitted by citizens and at the same time help those website that the local public health center had citizens become more considerate of social values or public not responded to her request to reimburse her issues beyond their own interests. The practice of CAAC’s reimbursable cancer screening test. The BAI found online administrative appeals hub system may provide that the MOHW had not provided the reimbursement some insight on this purpose. procedure to the local government after having recently changed the reimbursing agency from In sum, the experience of the BAI confirms that the ICT National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) to the local platform is necessary to support expansion of citizen government public health center, an omission that engagement, but the presence of the online platform resulted in MOHW’s failing to reimburse W1.7 billion. itself does not automatically lead to citizen participation The BAI recommended that the MOHW develop a (Manroth and others 2014, 3). standard reimbursement procedure for the public health centers across the country so that the local public health centers can provide the intended benefit of more timely and accurate reimbursement for the national health care users. Source: BAI 2016, 572–73. Leveraging ICT Platforms for Protecting People’s Rights and Interests against Government’s Decisions  /  13 3 Leveraging ICT Platforms for Protecting People’s Rights and Interests against Government’s Decisions: The Online Administrative Appeals Hub System of the Central Administrative Appeals Commission In the accountability ecosystem other institutions such as anticorruption agencies, ombudsman institutions, and human rights commissions are also tasked with addressing shortcomings of the governmental checks-and-balances system, including by detecting and revealing mismanagement of public resources and any legal transgressions that may erode citizen rights and by monitoring state interventions and voicing citizen claims (Cornejo and Mendiburu 2015). In the case of Korea these functions are entrusted to the Central Administrative Appeals Commission (CAAC), an affiliated institution of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), which was established in 2008 by integrating three related functions, Ombudsman of Korea, Korea Independent Commission against Corruption, and Administrative Appeals Commission under the Prime Minister. The Administrative Appeals Commission under the Prime Minister was renamed the Central Administrative Appeals Commission in 2010. Citizens in Korea, when affected by government decisions or inactions, can file an administrative appeal, which is the process of remedy by which an applicant asks the government agency to reconsider its decision when the rights or interests of the applicant have been infringed on by the agency’s illegal or unfair actions or inaction. Article 1 of the Administrative Appeals Act stipulates that the purpose of administrative appeals is the protection of people’s rights and interests and the control of the administration’s decisions initiated by the people. Compared with 14  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience administrative litigation, the administrative appeals system Thus a few years after its introduction, the administrative also has binding effects, but it proceeds by documentary appeals were perceived as inaccessible and citizens started examination, it concludes quickly, and it requires no to rely on them less, with the number of applications application fee, a system which suits the socially vulnerable remaining low and the acceptance rate generally declining groups in the country. in the early 2000s (see table 2). The processing time was also prolonged. In addition, the deviation in the Administrative appeals are handled by commissions, acceptance rates for the same category of administrative which are collegiate bodies invested with the authority to appeals exceeded 50 percent among 17 city and provincial deliberate and rule on adjudication requests by a majority administrative appeals commissions. Simply put, the vote of members who are present. The processing results administrative appeals system was failing to fulfill the have a binding effect on the administrative authorities. function of providing a remedy for the rights of the socially In order to ensure the objectivity and neutrality of the vulnerable (Choi 2003, 36–39). commission members, the commissions are composed of public officials and non-standing private sector members Introducing ICT Tools to Foster the Use such as lawyers and professors. More than 70 administrative appeals commissions have been established to serve of the Administrative Appeal Remedy different geographical regions or specialized sectors since Against that backdrop, the online administrative 1985 (ACRC 2018). appeals system was launched with the inauguration of participatory government in 2003. Functions for applicants Although the system as organized seemed to provide the of administrative appeals such as help with application right channel for addressing citizen’s needs, in practice it writing, automatic inquiry responses, and self-checking of was not easy for members of socially vulnerable groups case processing progress became available through the to argue against an improper decision of a government Administrative Appeals Commission websites in 2006. In agency without professional assistance. It was very difficult 2010, the legal basis for the online administrative appeals or costly for citizens to make time from business hours to procedures through the electronic data processing was visit the agency office, a constraint that often compelled provided when the Administrative Appeals Act was appellants to give up. In addition, often applications were amended.7 rejected or referred to another commission because of the wrong jurisdiction or misdesignation of the relevant government agencies; such actions often led to a lost opportunity for administrative remedies to be exacted 7  See appendix, “Provisions on Online Administrative Appeals, Excerpts from because the allowed time period had expired. the Administrative Appeals Act.” TABLE 2. Trends of Administrative Appeals in the Early 2000s, 1996–2003 Number of Decision after Hearing Rate of Year Applications Total Acceptance Dismissal Rejection Acceptance (%) Withdrawal/Referral 1996 4,448 4,276 1,765 2,289 222 41.3 61 1997 14,598 14,370 5,123 8,723 524 35.7 169 1998 6,847 7,335 2,423 4,656 256 33.0 0 1999 8,032 8,065 2,066 5,590 400 25.6 67 2000 9,454 8,842 1,899 6,265 678 21.5 123 2001 11,317 12,246 2,889 8,620 737 23.6 110 2002 11,725 9,442 1,884 6,988 570 20.0 587 2003 13,859 13,164 2,500 10,028 636 19.0 269 Leveraging ICT Platforms for Protecting People’s Rights and Interests against Government’s Decisions  /  15 FIGURE 9. Trends of Administrative Appeal Applications and Acceptance Rates, 1996–2017 60,000 45% 40% 50,000 35% 40,000 30% 25% 30,000 20% 20,000 15% 10% 10,000 5% 0 0% 19 6 19 7 19 8 20 9 20 0 20 1 20 2 20 3 20 4 20 5 20 6 20 7 20 8 20 9 20 0 20 1 20 2 20 3 20 4 20 5 20 6 17 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 19 Number of applications Acceptance ratio In 2013, a project to build an online hub system to integrate The online administrative appeals hub system provides easy more than 70 regional and sectoral administrative appeals and convenient one-stop services to citizens through the commissions began, and that integrated system first Internet (figure 10). In this way, citizens are not constrained provided service in 2014. The online administrative appeals by time, place, and types of appeals. Furthermore, the hub system integrated as many as 63 administrative appeals administrative appeals commissions and their members commissions as of 2018. and staff are provided with more systematic commission FIGURE 10. Conceptual Diagram for the Online Hub for Administrative Appeals Before After Disposition Disposition authority authority Seoul education office appeals commission Disposition Disposition Communications Seoul authority authority administrative administrative Disposition Disposition appeals appeals authority authority Central Seoul commission commission administration administration appeals appeals commission commission Central administrative Disposition Commission Disposition appeals Disposition Disposition authority authority commission authority authority Administrative appeals hub Disposition system Disposition authority authority Commission Commission Disposition Disposition Disposition Disposition authority authority authority authority Gyunggido Communications administration appeals appeals commission commission Commission Commission Disposition Disposition Disposition Disposition authority Commission authority authority authority 16  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience FIGURE 11. Procedure for Administrative Appeals Delivery Submission of Oral Filing of Notification of of agency’s supplemental hearing Hearing Decision application hearing date reply brief (optional) operation and consistency in adjudications through the use Content Structuralization through Data of the databases of those commissions. Classification In the past, administrative appeals were applied for and Applicants can now access the adjudication records of reviewed off-line. Each of the administrative appeals the administrative appeals commission through an open commissions accumulated information on the cases application program interface service. They can also look up independently. Under the new hub system, all the similar cases with the guided search function and predict administrative appeals cases are integrated and classified by how their appeals cases might end up, which may prevent unnecessary or excessive disputes from being filed. ◆ a field, In addition, the applicants can get custom help on how to ◆b type of agency’s decision, and write their cases and clear instructions on what procedure is next without having to visit the Administrative Appeals ◆ c party to the administrative appeal. Commission offices. The categorized data are sorted by the applicants, the commissions, and the government agencies, thereby The launch of the online administrative appeals hub making possible custom knowledge services based on this system fundamentally changed how people perceived organized knowledge system. Accumulated appeals cases and used the administrative remedy to file complaints can be used effectively only when the data have been about violations of their rights. For citizens and especially analyzed, systematically classified, and structured in the socially vulnerable people, it helped increase their trust in form of available knowledge (figure 12). the process because they could have access to information at any time and could start completing the application of FIGURE 12. Features of Online Administrative Appeals appeals through the online system. Hub System Power of Knowledge Management of Administrative Appeals Cases The most important feature of the online administrative appeals hub system is that it provides services tailored to the needs of the parties at each step of the administrative appeal. The entire series of the review proceedings from Custom all parties can be performed online in the administrative service appeals hub system: ◆ a an applicant (appellant) files an appeal; ◆ b the respondent (agency) answers; and Knowledge Contents ◆ parties, decides who is right, reports its decision c the commission reviews the arguments of both management structuralization to both parties, and closes the case (figure 11). Leveraging ICT Platforms for Protecting People’s Rights and Interests against Government’s Decisions  /  17 Customized Knowledge Services The online administrative appeals hub system also helps the administrative appeals commissions and government to Different Parties agencies (disposition-making agencies) reach rapid The online administrative appeals hub system can provide resolution of disputes by providing them with knowledge its custom knowledge service to four types of data users: services. In addition, the government officials at the disposition-making agencies can use this knowledge ◆ a applicant (appellant), service in their execution of laws and policies, thereby ◆b government agency, helping themselves work out a fairer and more equitable disposition. The administrative appeals commissions, too, ◆ c commission members and supporting staff, and can benefit from referring to the existing similar cases to ◆ d citizenry (including researchers). maintain the consistency of their decisions on applications. In particular, the online administrative appeals portal not Achievements and Further Challenges only provides services tailored to the needs of citizens of the Online Administrative Appeals by providing them with full search functions, detailed Hub System search, search by type of agency’s disposition, search With the introduction of the online administrative appeals by commission’s decision, and search by best practice, hub system, citizens can easily apply for an administrative but it also helps applicants, government agencies, and appeal without the difficulties they suffered in the past. administrative appeals commissions to file applications, In fact, the share of online applications increased to 35.3 answer questions, and review cases by referring to similar percent in 2017 from 15.9 percent in 2013. During the cases. In addition, the online administrative appeals portal same period, the number of applications surged from provides procedural information on the cases pending. After 33,418 to 56,704 (see figure 9). With the government- the case concludes, all the related data are, in turn, fed into wide hub system, the citizens can have better access to the knowledge system of the online administrative appeals the administrative appeals system without concerns over portal, adding value to the portal. functional and regional jurisdiction. An applicant may obtain practical help while preparing Improvement in processing administrative appeals through an application from the “Assistant” function by looking up establishing standards and providing information led a pattern of similar cases for reference. For this feature, the commissions to reach a decision more quickly—by the data on the past cases of administrative appeals are 6.17 days, or 8.5 percent faster, that is, from 72.76 days in analyzed through the knowledge classification system, 2013 to 66.59 days in 2015.8 and similar cases are grouped into the same category for easy reference. This method helps the citizens substantially The online hub system has also played a decisive role in overcome the difficulty of writing legal documents. The ensuring consistency in administrative appeals decisions, Assistant for Filling Out Application Form is a tool that helps both at the individual and the entire administrative appeals the applicant by providing choices at each step of filling commission level. As the decisions on administrative out an application form. An applicant may simply modify appeals began to be shared among the administrative one of the similar examples with his or her own particular appeals commissions in cities and provinces, the information. commission members could have access to professional knowledge needed for preliminary reviews. Notably, the In addition, as citizens other than applicants are given variation in the rate of acceptance began to decrease access to the cases of administrative appeals, they can for similar cases. The variation in the rate of acceptance become better informed and prevent future problems. In this way, the administrative appeals hub system can 8  According to Article 45 of the Administrative Appeals Act, a ruling shall be contribute to improving citizens’ access to laws and made within 60 days from the date on which the commission has received a institutions by providing helpful cases and relevant written appeal. The chairperson may extend the period for another 30 days knowledge. ex officio if unavoidable circumstances exist. 18  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience among the administrative appeals commissions in cities However, as the number of applications surged by more and provinces was 50.2 percent in 2010 when the hub than 10,000 cases in just two years, the average number system for administrative appeals was not established, but of days for the commissions to reach a decision increased it decreased to 37.8 percent in 2011–13 and 31.0 percent from 66.59 days in 2015 to 77.16 days in 2017. The ratio in 2015 (ACRC and CAAC 2015, 132). In addition, the quality of cases whose ruling period exceeded the legal limit of of decisions, technical reviews, and answers improved 90 days reached 22.5 percent in 2017 (ACRC 2018, 392). The accordingly. online application ratio has stagnated around 35 percent recently. These mixed outcomes can be explained by The most far-flung effect of the online hub system may various reasons, such as insufficient outreach efforts to be its contribution to the predictability of public services promote the new hub system, more complicated cases, from the release of the decisions and details of the cases to lack of staff members to support the commission ruling, citizens. The hub system provides a precise search assistant or lack of steady improvement of the ICT platform, such that grasps the intention of the user and an education as upgrading knowledge classification by using more program on professional knowledge. And these values accumulated data. Another area of improvement would be of the online administrative appeals system continuously to keep exploiting the latest advances in technology such expand because the quality of knowledge service with as artificial intelligence technology. Introducing “chat-bots” more sophisticated knowledge classification will be may upgrade the current Assistant function in the online improved as more data are accumulated and used for the hub system to a completely different level. knowledge service. Lessons Learned and Concluding Observations   /  19 4 Lessons Learned and Concluding Observations Two practical examples were documented in this learning note on how ICT platforms have been leveraged to expand citizen engagement in public auditing and administrative appeals for enhanced public accountability in Korea. In the accountability process, citizens are the users of public services. Therefore, their individual grievances on government services carry valuable information on ◆ a the quality of public service delivery, ◆ b the performance of public organizations, and ◆ c the integrity of public programs and their employees. As can be seen from the Korean experiences, ICT offers a new path that has not existed in the physical or off-line world. It connects geographical points that have not been connected to one another and consolidates the connected places into one virtual place, regardless of distance. At this virtual place it is easier to collect and analyze the opinions from hundreds of thousands of people. With systematic classification of the collected data, the accumulated data become powerful knowledge. Many more and valuable insights and knowledge can be obtained by transforming mostly unstructured citizen engagement data into structured data with the help of systematic classification. The great volume of individual participation has been an essential feature of citizen engagement in public accountability, an attribute that can hinder the implementation of citizen engagement. The ICT platform, if it is complemented by off-line efforts, can be an efficient and effective solution to not only the volume problem (constraint to the implementation of citizen engagement) but also to the more difficult challenge of generating more social value from citizens’ voices (constraint to the effects of citizen engagement). In addition, this solution can eventually contribute to closing the information and capacity gap between citizens and public authorities (constraint to de facto citizen empowerment). 20  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience BOX 3: Big Data Analysis for Citizen Complaints BOX 4: Traditional Offline Approach in and Petitions Digital Governance Korea’s Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission The Tax Tribunal is one of the most frequently (ACRC) has set up a dedicated unit to conduct big visited specialized administrative appeals data analysis and extract information on institutional commissions in Korea. Though the Tax Tribunal improvements and risks from the accumulated receives appeals applications through its civil petitions and complaints received through website, it also requires that two sets of signed e-People. The ACRC has conducted preventive original application forms and evidential functions by offering such information and potential documents be submitted through the mail risks to the related government agencies. In 2017, within three days of online submission. That 133 analysis reports were made and sent to the is, the appeals filed through electronic data corresponding government agencies. Of those 133, processing systems are not deemed filed by the as many as 74 recommendations were reflected in Tax Tribunal. This is because Framework Act on the work and policies of government. Furthermore, National Taxes has not accepted electronic filing 48 recommendations or 36.1 percent of the analysis yet even though Administrative Appeals Act resulted in concrete institutional improvements. does explicitly. Source: ACRC 2018, 100–111. Source: Kim and Kang 2017, 26–27. The big data analysis at the ACRC (box 3) shows another launch and its implementation should be carried out example of using the data from citizens’ petitions and continuously. complaints processed by the ICT platform to improve public ›› The ICT platform should be introduced with services by dealing with the root causes and not stopping at reengineered processes and refreshed concepts. Those simply correcting mistakes. policies and procedures designed under the off-line environment often hinder or limit the full impact of Though the scope and speed of recent ICT advancements ICT on expansion of citizen engagement (see box 4). make it very difficult to derive a definite conclusion on ›› Knowledge management is a very powerful tool whether it is indeed a success, and if it is, what the success for pubic accountability, and it has to be explicitly factors are, the Korean experiences discussed provide the planned together with the development of the ICT following lessons on how to leverage an ICT platform to platform. As more data from citizen participation are expand citizen engagement in public accountability: accumulated systematically and fed into the system, knowledge service can become more sophisticated ›› ICT platforms or online tools do not replace the off- and contextual, which establishes a virtual cycle. line resources for citizen participation in the public ›› Practitioners in public accountability should have accountability process and, to the contrary, online and a clear vision on new technology. It is necessary off-line measures are complementary with each other. to update on a regular basis, not only the ICT As observed in both cases, lack of off-line resources implementation plan but also the vision itself, if the full may result in delayed response, which leads to unmet potential of the ICT platform is to be realized. expectation and then distrust. ›› Under this constantly changing environment of digital ›› A good number of people still do not know the governance, we still may get one constant lesson: benefits of the new ICT platform or prefer face-to-face corresponding improvement of existing regulation consultation. Promotion of the new ICT system should and policy-making capability opens up more not end as a one-time advertisement to inform the possibilities to leverage the ICT platform for citizen public of its launch. An outreach or communication participation in public accountability. strategy should be prepared in advance of the References   /  21 References ACRC (Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission). 2018. ACRC 2017 Annual Report [in Korean]. Sejong, Korea: ACRC http://www.acrc.go.kr/acrc/board. do?command=searchDetail&menuId=05051005&method=searchDetailViewInc &boardNum=68728&currPageNo=1&confId=26&conConfId=26&conTabId= 0&conSearchCol=BOARD_TITLE&conSearchSort=A.BOARD_REG_DATE+ DESC%2C+BOARD_NUM+DESC ACRC (Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission) and CAAC (Central Administrative Appeals Commission). 2015. A 30-Year History of Administrative Appeals [in Korean]. Sejong, Korea: ACRC. Arnstein, Sherry R. 1969. “A Ladder of Citizen Participation.” Journal of the American Planning Association 35 (4): 216–24. BAI (Board of Audit and Inspection, Korea). 2013. White Paper on Communications with the Citizens [in Korean]. Seoul: BAI. ———. 2016. “2015 BAI Annual Report.” Seoul: BAI. Choi, Seung Won. 2003. Report on the Establishment of the Online Administrative Appeals System. a study commissioned by the Ministry of Government Legislation [in Korean]. Cornejo, Carolina, and Marcos Mendiburu. 2015. “Does Collaboration with Civil Society Strengthen Accountability Institutions? An Exploration.” GPSA Note 9, Global Partnership for Social Accountability, May. https://gpsaknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ GPSA_Note_9-DoesCollaborationbetweenCivilSociety.pdf Damgaard, Bodil, and Jenny M. Lewis. 2014. “Accountability and Citizen Participation.” In The Oxford Handbook of Public Accountability, edited by Mark Bovens, Robert E. Goodin, and Thomas Schillemans. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 258–72. Effective Institutions Platform (EIP). 2014. Supreme Audit Institutions and Stakeholder Engagement Practices—A Stocktaking Report. Paris: EIP. https://www.effectiveinstitutions. org/media/Stocktake_Report_on_Supreme_Audit_Institutions_and_Citizen_ Engagement_.pdf INTOSAI (International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions). 2013. “ISSAI 12: The Value and Benefits of Supreme Audit Institutions—Making a Difference to the Lives of the Citizens.” INTOSAI, Vienna, Austria. http://www.intosai.org/issai-executive-summaries/ detail/detail/News/issai-12-the-value-and-benefits-of-supreme-audit-institutions-making- a-difference-to-the-lives-o.html Kim, Jung-Dae and Hyuncheol Kang. 2017. “Online Administrative Appeals—Issues and Solutions” [in Korean]. Legislative Evaluation Issue Paper 17-15-5. Korea Legislative Research Institute https://www.klri.re.kr/kor/issueData/P/217/view.do Kim, Seok-Ju. 2007. “Evaluation of e-Government Initiatives of the Participatory Government” [in Korean]. Journal of Korean Association for Regional Information Society 10 (4): 111–34. 22  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience Kim, Seongjun. 2016. “Side by Side with People: Korea’s Experiences on Participatory Auditing.” Learning Note 1. World Bank and BAI, Washington, DC, and Seoul. Manroth, Astrid, Zenaida Hernandez, Harika Masud, Jad Zakhour, Miguel Rebolledo, Syed A. Mahmood, Aaron Seyedian, Qays Hamad, and Tiago Peixoto. 2014. Strategic Framework for Mainstreaming Citizen Engagement in World Bank Group Operations: Engaging with Citizens for Improved Results. Washington, DC: World Bank. http://documents.worldbank. org/curated/en/266371468124780089/Strategic-framework-for-mainstreaming-citizen- engagement-in-World-Bank-Group-operations-engaging-with-citizens-for-improved- results Park, Wonsoon. 2003. “Future Directions for Open Audit: Lessons Learned from the Audit Request System” [in Korean]. Journal on Audit and Inspection, 253–87. Peixoto, Tiago, and Micah L. Sifry, eds. 2017. Civic Tech in the Global South—Assessing Technology for the Public Good. Washington, DC, and New York: World Bank and Personal Democracy Press. Provisions on Online Administrative Appeals, Excerpts from the Administrative Appeals Act   /  23 A Provisions on Online Administrative Appeals, Excerpts from the Administrative Appeals Act Article 52 (Filing Appeal, etc., through Electronic Data Processing Systems) 1. A person who follows the administrative appeals procedure pursuant to this Act may prepare a written appeal and other documents in electronic format, and submit them using an information and communications network through an electronic data processing system (referring to an electronic device with data processing capability which is established through integrating computer hardware, software, database, network, security elements, etc., that allow a person to prepare, submit, and serve electronic documents necessary for an administrative appeals procedure; hereinafter the same shall apply) designated and operated by the commission. 2. The electronic documents submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be deemed submitted in accordance with this Act, and the obligation to submit the copy thereof shall be exempted. 3. The electronic documents submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be deemed received with the details recorded in an electronic data processing system as at the time a person who has submitted the documents confirms the receipt number provided by the electronic data processing system, through an information and communications network. 4. In cases of an appeal received through an electronic data processing system, when the period for filing an appeal is counted pursuant to Article 27, the appeal shall be deemed filed as at the time it is received under paragraph (3). 5. Matters necessary for the details of the designation of electronic data processing systems and the receipt of and handling with a written appeal, etc., through electronic data processing systems shall be prescribed by the National Assembly 24  /  Leveraging ICT Platforms to Foster Citizen Engagement for Enhanced Public Accountability: The Korean Experience Regulations, the Supreme Court Regulations, the National Assembly Regulations, the Supreme Court Constitutional Court Regulations, the National Election Regulations, the Constitutional Court Regulations, Commission Regulations, or Presidential Decree. the National Election Commission Regulations, or Presidential Decree. 3. The service of a document through an electronic data Article 53 (Digital Signature, etc.) processing system under paragraph (1) has the same effect as the one in writing. 1. The commission may request a person who intends to follow the administrative appeals procedures through 4. The documents served pursuant to paragraph (1) are an electronic data processing system, to present an deemed to be received with the details recorded in official digital signature or other certification (hereafter an electronic information processing system, as at the in this Article referred to as “digital signature, etc.”) time the appellant confirms the electronic documents pursuant to Article 2 (3) of the Digital Signature Act registered under paragraph (2): provided that if such that enables the identification of the person. details are not confirmed within two weeks (within 2. A person who put a digital signature, etc., pursuant to seven days for documents other than a written ruling) paragraph (1) of this Article is deemed to have affixed from the date of notification of registration under his/her signature or seal in accordance with this Act. paragraph (2), the notice is deemed to have arrived on 3. Matters necessary for digital signatures, etc., shall be the date when two weeks (seven days for documents prescribed by the National Assembly Regulations, other than a written ruling) elapse from the date of the Supreme Court Regulations, the Constitutional notification of registration. Court Regulations, the National Election Commission 5. Articles 52 and 53 and this Article shall apply mutatis Regulations, or Presidential Decree. mutandis where a person who has filed an appeal or has intervened in an appeal in writing files an Article 54 (Service, etc., using Electronic application for use of an electronic data processing Data Processing Systems) system. 6. Articles 52 and 53 and this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the service of documents between 1. An appellee or the commission may serve a person the commission, an appellee, and other relevant who has filed an administrative appeal pursuant to administrative agencies. Article 52 (1) or who has intervened in an appeal with 7. A method of service pursuant to the main body of a written ruling or various documents under this Act paragraph (1) or other necessary matters shall be using an electronic data processing system and its prescribed by the National Assembly Regulations, associated information and communications network: the Supreme Court Regulations, the Constitutional provided that this shall not apply if an appellant or an Court Regulations, the National Election Commission intervenor does not consent to the aforementioned Regulations, or Presidential Decree. service. 2. In the case of the main body of paragraph (1), the Source: Korean Legislation Research Institute. “Administrative commission shall input and register documents, such Appeals Act” (Act No. 15025, Oct. 31, 2017). Statutes of the as a written ruling to be served, in an electronic data Republic of Korea, https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/main.do processing system and then notify the fact that the document has been registered by an e-mail, etc., in accordance with the methods prescribed by the