Ethics Newsline®

Analysts ponder whether graft is so deeply rooted in economy and culture that it’s inextricable

SEOUL
South Korea last week reeled from continuing allegations of corruption at one of its most prestigious firms, Samsung.

The International Herald Tribune reports that Samsung executives have been banned from leaving the country and prosecutors have ransacked corporate offices in search of an alleged slush fund supposedly topping $200 million.

In the Herald Tribune report, writer Choe Sang-Hun notes: “South Koreans have grown tired of the corrupt ways of their big businesses. But because the economy is so heavily dependent on a handful of conglomerates, and their influence so pervasive in the daily life of South Koreans, people fear that striking these behemoths too harshly might well hurt their own economic well-being.”

The latest events overtaking Samsung fit into what Christian Science Monitor correspondent Donald Kirk calls “a pattern of corruption that also periodically ensnares the country’s business empires.”

“In such an atmosphere,” Kirk notes, “the proliferation of scandals raises the question of whether this fast-growing society is hopelessly mired in corruption or going through a phase it may eventually outgrow.”

While calling on Samsung to “rectify its practices,” Finance and Economy minister Kwon O-kyu maintained that South Korea has made significant steps in ethics and transparency since the economy’s meltdown 10 years ago, an event that precipitated a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, notes the Korea Times.

Late last week Samsung announced that it might delay billions of dollars in domestic and overseas investments until the probe is completed, according to the Agence France-Presse.

Prosecutors are looking into allegations that Samsung bribed government officials and journalists. Samsung has denied those charges.

Sources: Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 6 — AFP, Dec. 6 — International Herald Tribune, Dec. 3 — Korea Times, Dec. 3.