SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jeena Kim, Kyunghwan Lee, Eunyoung Row and Bochan Kim, Bae, Kim & Lee LLC
is deemed to be a public official. A list of the public corporations and quasi-government entities is updated and issued annually by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Foreign Public Official Under the FBPA, it is illegal to give, offer or prom - ise benefits to foreign public officials to secure improper advantages in international transac - tions. A “foreign public official” under the Act refers to: • a person who provides a legislative, admin - istrative or judiciary service for a foreign government; • a person to whom a business of a foreign government was delegated; • a person who works for a public statutory institution/organisation; • a person who works for a corporation in which the investment made by a foreign government accounts for more than 50% of the paid-in capital, or which is controlled by a foreign government; and • a person who works for a public international organisation. South Korean law prohibits giving, offering or promising benefits to foreign public officials to secure improper advantages in international business transactions. The legal framework does not differentiate significantly between domestic and foreign public officials, as various statutes impose penalties for bribery and cor - ruption regardless of the official’s nationality. Gifts, Hospitality and Exceptions South Korea generally treats gifts and hospital - ity as bribes. However, the Graft Act provides certain exceptions for specific expenses related to official duties, social customs or rituals, with -
in the following limits (as per the Enforcement Decree): • Food and drink: KRW50,000. • Funerals and wedding contributions: KRW50,000, except in the case of condo - lence and congratulatory flowers, where up to KRW100,000. • Gifts (excluding agricultural products or pro - cessed goods with more than 50% of agricul - tural or fisheries content): KRW50,000. • Gifts that are agricultural products or pro - cessed goods with more than 50% of agricul - tural or fisheries content: KRW150,000. This is temporarily relaxed to KRW300,000 before and after Korean traditional holidays. Facilitation Payments South Korea does not explicitly regulate facilita - tion payments, treating them as bribes if brib - ery elements are present. However, the FBPA exempts payments authorised under the laws of the foreign official’s country from being consid - ered a bribe. Accordingly, if the facilitation pay - ment is allowed in the foreign official’s country, such payment will not be subject to the FBPA. 2.2 Influence-Peddling The Criminal Act Article 132 of the Criminal Act addresses influ - ence-peddling committed by public officials within the scope of their official capacity. A public official who uses their official position to mediate in a way that directly or indirectly influ - ences another public official’s duties, and who in turn accepts, demands or promises to receive money or benefits in exchange for such media - tion, is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years or with disqualification from office for up to seven years.
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