Corruption

It is widely perceived that while South Korea has shown miraculous economic development, the level of corruption has not decreased overall. However, this general perception is not valid, due to the decoupling of petty corruption from grand corruption. Several corruption indices indicate that petty corruption has successfully decreased. This chapter explains the difference between petty corruption and grand corruption and measures the level of petty and grand corruption with various indices. The chapter also analyses the decoupling of petty and grand corruption by using historical institutionalism. A critical juncture created by the Asian Financial Crisis, democratization, and internet technology explains a low level of petty corruption. Path dependence, fortified by crony capitalism and prosecutorial power, helps us to understand a high level of grand corruption. Political leaders should show their political will to fight grand corruption if they want to control it. Unfortunately, political will has not been enough to fight grand corruption. To test this assertion, this chapter evaluates the anti-corruption policies of South Korea.