Republic of Korea Country Profile

Police

Individual Corruption

The Korean police are perceived to be among the most corrupt institutions in the country as shown by Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2009. Traffic police are an example of a corrupt state agency. According to Transparency International 2006, a police officer in Sungnam, an hour away from Seoul, embezzled a total of KRW 185 million on from 1999 to 2005 while he was on duty. Rather than depositing the money he received from issuing speeding tickets to a bank account, he personally pocketed the funds and forged false receipts that he then submitted to his office.

According to the Freedom House 2009, cases of ill-treatment by law enforcement personnel are still reported. Officers of the National Police Administration, under the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, are occasionally responsible for verbal and physical abuse of detainees.

Business Corruption

The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 reveals that companies identify Korea to perform insufficiently in relation to the reliability of police services to protect them from crime. Similarly, according to the World Bank & IFC Enterprise Surveys 2005, companies surveyed identify crime, theft and disorder as a constraint on doing business.

Some companies report paying protection money to the police as a necessary business expense. According to Transparency International 2006, gambling halls in Pusan, the second largest city in Korea, paid a monthly average of KRW 20 million in bribes to 17 police officers of their district police stations and also paid a monthly average of KRW 1 million in bribes to eight prosecutors of their district prosecutor's offices.

Political Corruption

Transparency International 2006 reveals that from 1998 to 2002, the companies IBM Korea and LG IBM PC paid a total of KRW 2.9 billion to 14 public officials of 9 public institutions, including the Supreme Prosecutor's Office. In return, the IBM-related companies won the contracts to provide these institutions with computer devices and systems worth KRW 66 billion.

Frequency

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business executives give the reliability of Korean police services to enforce law and order a score of 4.8 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'cannot be relied upon at all' and 7 'can always be relied upon').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2009:
- 5% of households who had contact with the police in 2008 report to have paid a bribe.

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2005:
- 3.5% of companies surveyed identify crime, theft and disorder as a major constraint on doing business.