Corruption as threat to Korea's advanced society

By Bernard Rowan

Confucius is known to have said that unless a person knows what corruption is, he or she will not be able to fight it. We cannot begin to fight corruption until we see that its possibility is in all of us. I also would argue that Confucius identifies corruption, most fundamentally, as the tendency to treat others above and below us in life’s circumstances in ways we would not want to be treated were we in the same position.

Korea, as an advanced society, must face the issue of corruption, both within its government and in its society. It certainly would not be the only country that needs to do so, or the worst case. As noted by Transparency International in its 2012 index of nations and corruptions perceptions, South Korea ranks 45th in terms of corruption.

South Korea’s developmental path has favored the existence of chaebol, the mega-conglomerates whose economic force has propelled Korea’s successful global advancement, but whose underbelly is laden with egregious instances of corruption. Advanced development requires the mitigation of chaebol corruption, beginning with attacking conglomerate magnates’ abuses of power and ultimately extending to broader reforms that will enhance competition and limit concentrations of economic power. The path forward entails the gradual diminution in the number, size and extent of Korean chaebol, other things equal.

South Korean politics also is no stranger to corruption. It seems that no recent presidential administration is immune to this phenomenon. Presidents have been condemned and exiled, family members have been prosecuted, apologies have been enunciated, and one president took his own life. With each instance, the public becomes accustomed to the existence of corruption, inured to the presence of this social evil. The main result is an erosion of public capital and justice in the public realm.

Indeed, the behavior associated with many families of chaebol magnates and presidential politics indicate that Korean corruption demands attention not just for political and economic leaders, but also their families and circles of friends. It is not enough to institute sound codes of public administration or financial regulations.

This is because the cousin of corruption is social distrust. Many people count the cost of corruption in terms of slush funds, abusive business practices, illegal contributions and perks, or the cost of wasteful and needless policies to the public, but much less often do we theorize and calculate the greatest cost: that arising from the loss of public trust and the desensitization to justice that corruption brings on.

The leaven of fighting corruption is conversely, an increased willingness to trust and invest, to assume reasonable social risk, to participate in social and political processes and institutions, and to point out and fight against corruption. Kim Tong-hyung reported on the low levels of trust expressed by the Korean public in chaebol (Feb. 1, 2013). The same would be true of the trust level in political leaders, and not just in Korea.

The solutions, or better stated, the reforms to mitigate corruption, require consistent enforcement and renewal. They are not mysterious. Prosecuting political and economic leaders who violate national laws and breach ethical practice is a vital first step. As Kim Jae-won wrote in The Korea Times (Dec., 2012), it does not necessarily hurt a company’s bottom line to do so ― in fact the opposite. Government reforms that emphasize merit and performance over seniority and clientelism are another necessary component. Continued development of Korea’s contemporary laws related to campaign finance and the conduct of elections is another key step.

In recent decades, commentators and scholars, including those from South Korea, have pointed the fingers at Confucianism or related practices as the root of corruption. I do not think it behooves anyone to deny the importance of diverse value systems as nexuses of good and bad conduct. Nonetheless, in societies where contemporary instances of Confucianism remain constitutive of the polity and economy, Confucianism must be viewed as a resource for mitigating corruption. And indeed, the avoidance of scapegoating and the pursuit of harmony in social relations could not be bettered as theoretical and conceptual bases for tackling this enduring threat to South Korea’s continued progress as an advanced nation.

Bernard Rowan is director of assessment and program quality, professor of political science and coordinator of international studies at Chicago State University, where he has taught for 19 years.