Corruption in Korean Organizations : Prevention Measures from Cultural Perspectives

Abstract

This study examines the status of major corruption in the public and private sectors in Korea. This study adopts the secondary data analysis method, and uses ‘The Status of Corruption in Korean Society’ released by Ipsos in March 2019. The annual difference analysis is conducted to examine the trend of major corruption, and the results are as follows. First, in the public sector, the number of conspicuous crimes, such as bribery, has decreased, but intelligent crimes that are not easily detected, such as abuse of authority, are increasing. In the private sector, embezzlement was on the decline, but breach of trust remained at a certain level. Second, from 2003 to 2017, the average annual change rate of major corruption in the public sector was 8.0%, while the private sector was 1.8%. Third, the public sector has seen a slight increase in corruption except in 2015, but the private sector has been declining since 2014. This study is different as it makes academic contributions by offering three anti-corruption measures; changing the culture of high power distance, changing the culture of low corruption perception, and abolishing the culture of impunity. Empirical studies using primary data that separate the two groups are required.