On the role conflict of auditors in Korea

This study on auditor’s conflict consists of three parts. The first is a discussion of the theory regarding auditor’s role conflict. From a theoretical basis, the causes for role conflict are distinguished by the structural inconsistency of roles, the “free engagement system” which is a kind of free market system of audit contracting between auditors and clients, and the expectation gap. The second part is a review of the Korean environment and a history of the audit in order to see what causes auditor’s role conflict. The results show that auditors in Korea face a substantial role conflict. The conflict arises because auditors try to maintain their professional norms and at the same time consider the client manager’s wishes. The third part is a proposed solution based on an empirical study conducted in Korea to resolve the auditor’s role conflict. This study stresses the need for a separation of the auditor’s role into a service function and a monitoring function.