- Takes top prize in quasi-government category at Korea Compliance Awards

- Recognized for integrated management of ethics, integrity and internal controls

Jung Jin-young (right), head of the innovation and growth division at the National Research Foundation of Korea, and Kim Eun-sung, chairman of the Korea Compliance Association, pose with the quasi-government institution grand prize plaque. [National Research Foundation of Korea]
Jung Jin-young (right), head of the innovation and growth division at the National Research Foundation of Korea, and Kim Eun-sung, chairman of the Korea Compliance Association, pose with the quasi-government institution grand prize plaque. [National Research Foundation of Korea]

The National Research Foundation of Korea has been recognized for its efforts to strengthen compliance and ethical management in overseeing national research and development.

The foundation announced Sunday that it won the grand prize in the quasi-government institution category at the sixth Korea Compliance Awards, held Thursday.

Organized by the Korea Compliance Association, the awards evaluate public institutions and companies on their compliance, ethical management and internal control systems.

The foundation earned high marks for reinforcing its compliance framework through a dedicated Ethics Management Team, which oversees five core areas: ethical management, integrity and anti-corruption, internal controls, human rights management and customer satisfaction.

Judges particularly noted the foundation's practice of identifying operational risk factors each year, assessing their severity and presenting measurable improvements in high-risk areas. Active participation by the foundation's leadership in promoting ethics and integrity also contributed to the win.

"The foundation's strength lies in managing the risk factors inherent in national R&D administration as trackable indicators, and in objectively demonstrating that the systems it has built actually work," the judging panel said.

At the awards ceremony, the foundation also delivered a featured presentation on best practices under the theme "The National Research Foundation of Korea: Designing Trust in National R&D."

"This award is the fruit of organization-wide efforts to continuously strengthen ethical management, internal controls and compliance," said Hong Won-hwa, chairman of the National Research Foundation of Korea. "We will continue to establish ourselves as a research management institution that upholds fairness and trust in national R&D through responsible, ethics-based governance."


nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com