When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
South Korea

Gift Or Bribe? New South Korean Graft Law Treads On Tradition

Jewelry district in Seoul
Jewelry district in Seoul
Jason Strother

SEOUL — Stella came to South Korea on a government scholarship to do a PhD. She says when she arrived from Europe, she found that the degree came with some "unofficial" costs. "I heard that there should be some kind of payment every time that my committee of professors would meet to discuss my thesis."

Stella did not want to reveal her real name since she works for that same university now. She says she confronted her professors about these payments, but it didn't go well. "I was explicitly told by one of the members of my committee that I should pay this money," she said. "This was Korean custom and I should take this as normal."

So every time she met her advisors, she handed over envelopes, stuffed with cash. Stella says this custom cost her about $900 over a six month period. Her professors graciously accepted her "gifts' and she got her degree.

South Korea has a tradition of gift-giving that some people take advantage of, notes Joongi Kim, a law professor at Seoul's Yonsei University. "The key issue is when there's an authority relationship," he notes. There are some hopeful signs that the practice of small and large bribes is declining since a sweeping anti-graft law after a probe of the 2014 sinking of the Sewol ferry, which killed around 300 passengers. Investigators blamed corruption for allowing the ship to sail despite inadequate safety.

The sunken ferry in 2014 — Photo: South Korean Coast Guard

The anti-graft law is meant to keep educators, journalists and public officials on the straight and narrow. It places restrictions on the monetary value of presents that they can give and receive — violations are a criminal offense.

Since it came into effect a year ago, government data shows that 188 violators have been penalized.

That might seem like a small number, but law professor Joongi Kim says the law has created an atmosphere where people with authority are now scared to ask for gifts. He adds, though, that in some cases the expansive law seems too strict. "If a elementary school student gives a flower to a teacher that they like, if the teacher accepts that flower it would be illegal under the law."

The law may actually even be hurting the florist business. Ms. Yang, who only wants to give her surname, runs a flower shop in downtown Seoul and says many of her customers were civil servants. Ever since the law took effect she says orders have plunged, especially for large bouquets that are given as gifts at weddings and funerals. "I'm desperate," she said. "I've been running my shop for 10 years and I'm seeing other florists that have been in this part of town for 20 or 30 years close because of the law. I know it's good for our society, but its killing small businesses. Giving gifts, like flowers, is just a way Koreans show how much they care."

Aside from flower shops, tokens of appreciation are picked up at supermarkets, too. Hwang Yeop, who heads the Hanwoo or Korean Beef Association, says the anti-graft law also hurts his industry. Assortments of Korean beef are traditionally given during the lunar new year and the Chuseok-thanksgiving holiday in the fall. "I support the law in principle," he said. "But there needs to be some exceptions made for gifts like these."

Prices for flowers and Korean beef were artificially high.

There's a roughly $50 limit on gifts you can give to civil servants, professors and reporters. There's also a cap on how much government officials can spend on wining and dining guests, Hwang says fewer people are ordering Korean beef at barbeque joints. The maximum is about $30 per meal.

The law has popular support, according to polls here. And its making South Korea less corrupt, says You Han-beom of Transparency International Korea.

He admits that it's negatively affecting some industries, but says the price for flower bouquets and gift packs of Korean beef were artificially high to begin with in part because government officials weren't using their own money to buy them.

"A lot of taxpayer money was spent on things like flowers and Korean beef. It was substantial, so it needed to be stopped," he stated. "Yes, this is going to cause some pain for small businesses at first, but in the long run they will find ways to meet normal consumer demand."

Still, You Han-beom says the anti-corruption law won't kill Korea's tradition of gift giving.

On my way out of his office, he hands me a small, wrapped box. I remind him that as a reporter in Korea, I can't legally accept presents over $50. He says it's just a tube of toothpaste, so I'll be alright.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Photograph of Police and emergency services working at the site of a shooting in Jerusalem that saw two gunmen kill three people at a bus station in the Israeli capital.

Police and emergency services are working at the site of a shooting in Jerusalem that saw two gunmen kill three people at a bus station in the Israeli capital.

Anne-Sophie Goninet and Bertrand Hauger

👋 ନମସ୍କାର*

Welcome to Thursday, where Hamas claims responsibility for a shooting that killed three people in Jerusalem just hours after Israel extended a ceasefire in Gaza, Henry Kissinger dies at age 100, and Singapore gets some company at the top of the world’s most expensive cities. Meanwhile, Turin-based daily La Stampa’s correspondent at the Israel-Gaza border describes conditions amid the fragile ceasefire.

[*Namaskār - Odia, India]

Keep reading...Show less

The latest