Professor Alina Mungiu-Pippidi from the Hertie School in Berlin discusses the state of anti-corruption campaigns around the world as well as the lessons that have been learned from the European Union's own efforts to combat corruption. She argues that although participation in democracy has risen in recent years, this has not translated to decreased levels of corruption. Based on global studies using data from more than 120 countries, she mentions that successful changes in governance must be domestically driven rather than donor-driven. Further, Professor Pippidi stresses the need to understand local context and conditions, find local champions to spearhead the movement, and let them create the environment needed to ignite reform in governance.

Ekaterina Lysova from the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) addresses CIPE’s mission; strengthen democracy around the world through private enterprises and market-oriented reform. She highlights the importance of cultivating local champions that want to promote reformation in order to level the playing field and ignite change in governance. Despite the challenges, she mentions that the rise of the global anti-corruption movement has been raising public awareness of corruption issues and building the basics of good governance.

The East Asia Institute organized a roundtable meeting to discuss strategies to promote democratic values and tackle corruption that took place on January 30th. Professor Alina Mungiu-Pippidi from the Hertie School in Berlin and Ekaterina Lysova from the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) present strategies for democracy promotion and corruption prevention throughout Europe. Korean participants including Junghun Cho (Member of the National Assembly, Transition Party), Wonbin Cho (Professor, Sungkyunkwan University), Jaehyuck Choi (Activist, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy), Sung Min Han (Professor, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies), Tae-Keung Ha (Member of the National Assembly, People Power Party), Jin Young Jeon (Director, National Assembly Research Service), Jong Min Kim (Lawyer), Jung Kim (Professor, University of North Korean Studies), Geo-Sung Kim (Professor, Sangji University), Nam Kyu Kim (Professor, Korea University), Sook Jong Lee (Senior Fellow, East Asia Institute), Han Beom You (Executive Director, Transparency International Korea), Jong-sung You (Director, Inequality and Social Policy Institute at Gachon Liberal Arts College) discuss measures to combat state capture, improve the integrity, and to effectively use Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds for the control of corruption in developing countries. The roundtable provides the opportunity to reflect these findings in government policies.■