Antigraft law violations fall to decade low

Violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act fell to the lowest level last year since the law took effect 10 years ago, officials said Monday.

The act stipulates the price caps on gifts and meals that public servants can be treated, among other things.

Since the law took effect, violations steadily increased and peaked at 4,386 cases in 2018 before declining through 2021. Since then, annual totals had fluctuated before reaching a record low of 1,280 cases last year, according to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.

A cumulative total of 17,455 cases of violations have been reported and 2,983 people have been punished.

The commission said it conducted a survey in June about the act and 87.1 percent responded positively about its effectiveness. But 61.4 percent of the respondents also said that the law should be enforced more strictly, officials said.

“It is encouraging that the number of violations and penalized individuals are on a downward trend as it shows that the system is operating stably across public institutions,” said Jung Il-yeon, chairman of the commission.

Yonhap