Article 1(Purpose) #
The purpose of this Decree is to prescribe matters necessary for the fair and transparent operation of contests conducted by administrative agencies, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of such contests and securing public trust.
Article 2(Definitions) #
The terms used in this Decree are defined as follows:
1. The term "contest" means a competition or a similar public contest in which an administrative agency publicly invites the public's creative opinions, ideas, or works regarding policies or public services, and awards prizes such as certificates of award, cash awards, or non-monetary prizes to the awardees after a judging process;
2. The term “administrative agency” means central administrative agencies (including those affiliated with the President or the Prime Minister) and their affiliated agencies;
3. The term “entry” means the act of submitting opinions, ideas, or creative works by a member of the public in participation in a contest;
4. The term "misconduct" means submitting an entry by committing any of the following acts; provided, acts resulting from minor negligence shall be excluded:
a. Plagiarism: Using another person’s original opinions, ideas, or creative works, which are not common knowledge, without proper authorization or citation;
b. Fabrication: Including nonexistent research results or falsified supporting materials in the entry;
c. Falsification: Intentionally manipulating, altering, adding, or deleting research materials or procedures to distort the content of the entry;
d. Improper duplicate entry: Submitting an entry identical or similar to one previously submitted to another contest, in violation of a restriction on duplicate submissions;
e. Any other acts similar to those referred to in items a through d that are deemed to constitute misconduct under the public announcement made by the head of the administrative agency under Article 5.
Article 3(Scope of application) #
This Decree shall not apply to the following contests:
1. A contest held exclusively for the employees of the administrative agency hosting the contest or for the employees of other administrative agencies;
2. A contest held for educational purposes for children under the Early Childhood Education Act or for students enrolled in schools under Article 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act;
3. A contest in which no certificate of award is presented and only a cash award or non-monetary prize not exceeding the amount determined by the Minister of the Interior and Safety is awarded.
Article 4(Establishment of implementation plan) #
(1) If the head of an administrative agency intends to conduct a contest, they shall review whether the contest is similar to other contests and determine whether and how to conduct such contest.
(2) If the head of an administrative agency intends to conduct a contest, they shall establish an implementation plan that includes the following:
1. The field, purpose, and content of the contest;
2. Eligibility and procedures for entry;
3. Method for selecting winning entries and number of awardees;
4. Awards to be presented, including certificates of award, cash award, and prizes;
5. Criteria and procedures for judging winning entries;
6. Types of misconduct, standards for determining misconduct, and methods for verifying misconduct including whether to conduct public verification under Article 9 (3);
7. Matters regarding the disclosure of winning entries under Article 10;
8. Matters regarding the attribution and use of copyrights to the winning entries;
9. Measures against misconduct, including cancellation of the decision on winning entries and claims for the return of certificates of award, cash awards, and non-monetary prizes;
10. Any other matters deemed necessary by the head of the administrative agency for the conduct of the contest.
Article 5(Public announcement of contests) #
(1) If the head of an administrative agency intends to conduct a contest, they shall make a public announcement of the matters under the subparagraphs of Article 4 (2) for at least 5 days.
(2) The public announcement under paragraph (1) shall be made through the website of the administrative agency and the integrated contest management system under Article 13; and may also be made through media outlets, advertisements, or other channels.
(3) If the head of an administrative agency intends to change any matters publicly announced under paragraph (1), they shall make a new public announcement of the changes for at least 5 days; provided, a new public announcement may be omitted if the changes are minor, such as numerical errors, typographical errors, or omissions.
Article 6(Entry submission) #
(1) Where the head of an administrative agency conducts a contest, they shall endeavor to provide various methods of entry submission, such as in-person, postal mail, email, or through the agency’s website.
(2) The head of an administrative agency shall inform entrants of the matters under Article 4 (2) 5 through 9 and obtain their consent.
Article 7(Composition of contest judging committee) #
(1) If the head of an administrative agency intends to conduct a contest, they shall establish a contest judging committee (hereinafter referred to as the "Judging Committee") for each contest.
(2) If a contest covers more than 1 field, the head of the administrative agency may establish a separate Judging Committee for each field.
(3) The Judging Committee shall deliberate on the following matters:
1. Judging of entries and selection of winning entry candidates;
2. Verification and determination of misconduct;
3. Decision on winning entries;
4. Whether and to what extent to disclose winning entry candidates and winning entries;
5. Any other matters deemed necessary by the head of the administrative agency for the systematic operation and management of the contest.
(4) The Judging Committee shall be comprised of at least 5 members, including 1 chairperson; provided, in the case of a Judging Committee established separately for each field under paragraph (2), it may be comprised of at least 3 members, including 1 chairperson.
(5) Members of the Judging Committee shall be appointed or commissioned by the head of the administrative agency from among relevant public officials and experts with extensive knowledge of and experience in the subject matter of the contest. In such cases, at least 1/2 of the members shall be commissioned from the private sector, taking into account gender balance.
Article 8(Operation of Judging Committee) #
(1) A majority of the members of the Judging Committee shall constitute a quorum, and any resolution thereof shall require the concurring vote of a majority of those present.
(2) A member of the Judging Committee shall be disqualified from deliberation or resolution on any of the following matters:
1. Where the member or their spouse, or a person who was their spouse, is a party to the relevant agenda item (including executives or employees where the party is a corporation or an organization; hereafter in this Article the same shall apply), or has joint rights or joint obligations with a party to the relevant agenda item;
2. Where the member is or was a relative of a party to the relevant agenda item;
3. Where the member is currently performing, or has performed, advisory, research, service, appraisal, or other work regarding the relevant agenda item;
4. Where the member, or a corporation or organization to which the member belongs, is or was an agent of a party to the relevant agenda item.
(3) Where a party to the relevant agenda item has a ground to believe that it is impracticable to expect impartial deliberation and resolution from a member of the Judging Committee, the party to the relevant agenda item may file a request for challenge against such member with the Judging Committee, and the Judging Committee shall decide whether to grant such request by resolution. In such cases, the member who is the subject of the request for challenge shall not participate in the resolution.
(4) Where a member of the Judging Committee falls under the grounds specified in paragraph (2) or (3), they shall notify the Judging Committee of such fact and recuse themselves from deliberation and resolution on the relevant agenda item.
(5) The head of an administrative agency may dismiss or decommission a member of the Judging Committee in any of the following cases:
1. Where the member becomes unable to perform their duties due to mental or physical disability;
2. Where the member commits any irregularity related to their duties;
3. Where the member is deemed unfit for the position due to negligence of duty, damage to dignity, or other reasons;
4. Where the member voluntarily declares that it is impracticable for them to perform their duties;
Article 9(Judging) #
(1) The head of an administrative agency shall verify whether any entrant has committed misconduct. In such cases, for efficiency, the verification of misconduct may be limited to winning entry candidates under paragraph (2).
(2) The head of an administrative agency shall select winning entry candidates through deliberation by the Judging Committee. In such cases, in addition to the deliberation by the Judging Committee, citizen participation methods such as online voting may be implemented.
(3) With respect to winning entry candidates under paragraph (2), the head of an administrative agency shall disclose them to the general public through the agency’s website or other means for at least 10 days and collect public opinions regarding possible misconduct.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), where there are concerns about infringement of property rights such as copyright or infringement of personal information, the head of the administrative agency may, upon deliberation by the Judging Committee, conduct verification through other means without disclosing the entries to the public.
(5) Upon completion of the verification of misconduct, the head of an administrative agency shall determine the winning entries through deliberation by the Judging Committee; provided, if an entry is found to constitute misconduct, it shall not be selected as a winning entry, and if no entry satisfies the eligibility criteria, judging standards, or other publicly announced conditions, the head of the administrative agency need not select any winning entry.
Article 10(Disclosure of winning entries) #
(1) Where the head of an administrative agency has determined the winning entries under Article 9 (5), they shall, without delay, disclose the following matters through the integrated contest management system under Article 13:
1. The titles and content of the winning entries;
2. Information on the awardees and the awards presented, including certificates of award, cash awards, and non-monetary prizes;
3. Plans for the utilization of the winning entries;
4. Any other matters deemed necessary for disclosure by the head of the administrative agency.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if there is a concern about the infringement of property rights such as copyright or personal information of the awardee, the head of an administrative agency may, following deliberation by the Judging Committee, decide not to disclose the winning entries or determine different scope and content of disclosure, such as pseudonymizing the awardees' names.
Article 11(Revocation of decision on winning entry) #
(1) Where a misconduct is discovered after a winning entry has been determined under Article 9 (5), the head of an administrative agency shall revoke the decision on the relevant winning entry.
(2) If the head of an administrative agency revokes the decision on a winning entry under paragraph (1), they may demand the return of the certificate of award, cash awards, non-monetary prizes, etc.
(3) Before revoking a decision under paragraph (1) or demanding a return under paragraph (2), the head of an administrative agency shall give prior notice of such intent to the relevant entrant within a specified period of at least 10 days.
(4) An entrant who receives notice under paragraph (3) may submit an opinion regarding the revocation or demand for return.
(5) If the head of an administrative agency finds the opinion submitted under paragraph (4) to be well-grounded, they shall reflect it in their decision.
Article 12(Management of contest operation) #
(1) The head of an administrative agency shall manage contests in a manner that ensures systematic operation, such as by periodically inspecting matters related to contest operation.
(2) The head of an administrative agency may designate a department to have general supervision and control of and support contest operation in order to manage the contests conducted by the agency.
(3) Where necessary to check the status of contest operation by administrative agencies, the Minister of the Interior and Safety may request the head of an administrative agency to provide relevant materials or otherwise cooperate.
Article 13(Establishment and operation of an integrated contest management system) #
The Minister of the Interior and Safety may establish and operate an integrated contest management system to enable administrative agencies to operate contests effectively and jointly utilize the results thereof.