La Chambre

2019 ACRC Roundtable with Foreign Businesses in Korea

On April 12, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) held its annual policy briefing roundtable meeting with the representatives of foreign chambers and companies in Korea. The meeting was attended by ACRC Chairperson Pak Un Jong and 12 foreign business leaders including the FKCCI managing director Stella Yoon. The Foreign Chambers highlighted their role in reinforcing exchanges between foreign companies and Korean institutions to implement best practices in the compliance systems in Korea. It was the occasion to share ideas and opinions on anti-corruption policies and regulations. 

President Moon put the fight against corruption as one of its top priority with the implementation of his Five-Year Comprehensive Anti-Corruption Plan. 2018 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), published by Transparency International in February 2019, ranked Korea 45 out of 180 countries with a score of 57 out of 100, 6 ranks higher than 2017 . This is higher than those of developing countries but lower than average score of 68.4 among OECD countries. To improve the anti-corruption environment, Korea implemented the "Kim Young-ran act" also called the anti-graft law which put a cap on corporate gifts to public officers up to 100,000 KRW with some conditions (agricultural products are favored for example).

The ACRC has held the annual Policy Briefing for foreign businesses in Korea since the launch of the Commission in 2008. The purpose of the Policy Briefing is to help foreign businesses better understand Korea’s anti-corruption policy and the ACRC reach out to foreign businesses in Korea.