Korea removes 3 billion won cap on whistleblower rewards

The Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission said it has scrapped the 3 billion won ($2.22 million) ceiling on rewards paid to corruption whistleblowers and will now pay a flat 30 percent of the public money a tip recovers, under an enforcement decree that took effect the same day.

The measure is intended to make reporting more active, the government said. The revision removes the upper limit on rewards set at 3 billion won, which had applied under the anti-graft law, the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, the Act on the Prevention of Loss of Public Funds and the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act.

The change replaces a tiered system that paid between 4 percent and 30 percent of recovered or saved public funds. The commission can still reduce or withhold a payment after weighing factors such as the accuracy of the tip, the reliability of the evidence, whether the corruption had already been made public by the news media, whether the tipster committed an illegal act in connection with the report, how much the tip contributed to eliminating or preventing corruption, and whether the tipster was obliged to report to an administrative agency or reported in connection with their duties.

The revision, approved at a Cabinet meeting on Sept. 22, also covers reward payments under the Protection of Public Interest Reporters Act and the Act on the Prevention of Loss of Public Funds.

The decree will be financed from a new Public Interest Reporting Promotion Fund that the Ministry of Planning and Budget is establishing in the 2027 budget. Existing reward budgets will be transferred into the fund, which is set at 45.1 billion won ($33.4 million), an increase of 40.2 billion won ($29.7 million) from current levels.

Applications filed before the decree took effect will still be assessed under the old rules.