SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jeena Kim, Kyunghwan Lee, Eunyoung Row and Bochan Kim, Bae, Kim & Lee LLC
4.5 Safe Harbour or Amnesty Programme There are no safe harbour or amnesty programmes based on self-reporting or compliance procedures/ remediation efforts under Korean law. However, Article 51 of the Criminal Act requires the following factors to be considered when determining a sentence: • the offender’s age, character, intelligence and environment; • the relationship with the victim; • the motive, means and outcome of the crime; and • the circumstances after the crime Among the foregoing factors, the “circumstances after the crime” includes factors such as self-reporting, adequate compliance procedures and remediation efforts, which are considered favourable circum - stances. See also 3.3 Corporate Liability regarding the vicari - ous liability exception. A corporation will not be found liable for the actions of its employees if the corpora - tion can demonstrate that it discharged its duty to adequately supervise those employees. The criminal consequences are different depending on the type of the bribery and corruption offences under the following provisions. Violation of the Domestic Public Official Bribery Offence Under the Criminal Code Article 129 (1) of the Criminal Code A recipient of a bribe may face up to five years’ impris - onment. Article 2 (1) of the Specific Crimes Act A recipient of a bribe may face an aggravated penalty of five years’ imprisonment up to life imprisonment if the amount received is KRW30 million or more, depending on the exact amount of the bribe. 5. Penalties for Violations 5.1 Penalties on Conviction
Article 2 (2) the Specific Crimes Act An additional fine of two to five times the amount of the bribe could be imposed, regardless of the amount of the bribe. Article 133 (1) of the Criminal Code A giver of a bribe may face up to five years’ imprison - ment or a fine of up to KRW20 million. Violation of the Domestic Private Commercial Bribery Offence Under the Criminal Code Article 357 (1) of the Criminal Code A recipient of a bribe may face up to five years’ impris - onment or a fine of up to KRW10 million. Article 357 (2) of the Criminal Code A giver of a bribe may face up to two years’ imprison - ment or a fine of up to KRW5 million. Article 5 (1), (2) and (4) of the Specific Economic Crimes Act A recipient who is an employee or officer of a finan - cial institution is subject to imprisonment for up to five years or to disqualification for up to ten years. Depending on the amount received, the penalty may be increased to life imprisonment or imprisonment for at least ten years. Additionally, a fine of at least twice and up to five times the amount received may be imposed. Article 6 of the Specific Economic Crimes Act The giver is subject to imprisonment of at least five years or to a fine of up to KRW30 million. Violation of the Foreign Public Official Bribery A giver of a bribe may face up to five years’ impris - onment or a fine of up to KRW50 million where the benefit gained from the bribe is KRW10 million or less. Article 3 (1) of the FBPA Offence Under the FBPA Article 3 (1) of the FBPA A giver of a bribe may face up to five years’ impris - onment or a fine of up to twice the value of the ben - efit where the benefit gained from the bribe exceeds KRW10 million.
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