The Constitutional Court determined last July 28 that the 'Kim Young-ran Law', which has been a hot topic in the media, is constitutional. Subsequently, the 'Kim Young-ran Law' has been enforced widely from September 28.

 

 The official legal name of the 'Kim Young-ran Law' is 'Prohibition of soliciting gifts or money in exchange for favors'. Because Kim Young-ran pushed forward this law, it has been called the 'Kim Young-ran Law'.

 

 The specific details of this law include that 'when someone received or demanded money or valuables over one million won, that person will receive a criminal penalty.' and 'giving a meal in excess of 30,000 won, giving something like presents over 50,000 won, or giving money for family events of 100,000 won are limited for everyone.'

L.L.F. reporter Bak Ji-won

 

 There was one representative case of Korea that required such a 'Kim Young-ran law'. It is the so-called ‘Benz prosecutor’ case, in which a current prosecutor received a Mercedes-Benz car and a luxury bag at the request of an attorney in 2011. People thought that of course they would get punished, but the reality was the opposite. The court said " they contracted a marriage of consent so that was a part of financial support for economic reasons." The court then pronounced the innocence of the prosecutor and the attorney.

 

 

 There were so many instances of corruption and so many loop holes for public officials to exploit for personal gain that something needed to be done. The attitude of the legal system was to ambivalent toward corruption. So the people of the nation strongly asserted the need for a law to reduce corruption and arrest criminals.

L.L.F reporter Kim Eun-young

 

Kim Young-ran Law : It can be a catalyst to eradicate corruption

(Opinion in favor of 'Kim Young-ran law')

 "Professor, may I offer you a meal?" Graduate student A, who is preparing for his master's degree, is now leaving the thesis examination. He thought that he had suffered for several months to write his thesis. He felt a sense of accomplishment and was happy because he finished his work, but he thought that he must have dinner with the professors who are in charge of his thesis review, and then he said "My service to you". So he booked a 100,000 won per person full course Japanese meal.

 

 The anecdote of above is one of the phenomena that is commonly happening in our society. Besides, there are so many small exchanges that we do not know about, called the sign of heart or gift that seemingly straddle a fine line between bribes and simple favors.

 

 This is why the Kim Young-ran law came to us. Its purpose is to prevent corruption at every level of society, from the very small to the very big.

 

 In addition, an online research company 'Data Spring Korea', surveyed 14,560 service members about their perception of the 'Kim Young-ran law' and as a result, 54.3% of the respondents voted overwhelmingly in favor of the law. Why do so many people favor the Kim Young-ran law? There are many reasons people want it be enforced.

 

 The biggest opinion is that law will at least reduce corruption, which has been a chronic problem in our society. Our society now suffers from widespread denial about the culture of requests we live in. And there are no hard and fast laws about corruption or the culture of requests. Therefore, the Kim Young-ran law suggests a standard, a range of application.

 

 Also, our society needs 'fairness'. There are no clear rules or standards, so punishment is not fair and there are too many loopholes to escape. The playing field simply isn’t level. For example, public teachers are punished for receiving money or gifts, but private school teachers are not. It just isn’t fair.

 

 The situation looks like this, so seven of ten teachers who work at public school were found generally in favor of the Kim Young-ran law, surveyed by a 'Good teacher movement' that is a gathering of Christian teachers. The results of an online survey of 697 elementary, junior and high school teachers showed that 77.6% of the respondents supported the Kim Young-ran law.

 

 Rejecting money from parents was cited by 37.3% of respondents as the primary reason for supporting the new law. The 'Good teacher movement' said, "Through the implementation of the Kim Young-ran law, we hope to create a more transparent and trustworthy teaching society in relation to teachers, schools, and traders."

 

 However, do not think all of things are prohibited. The law stipulates that public school officials and public officials who are treated to meals costing more than 30,000 won can be fined. It also limits the amount for gifts to 50,000 won, and money for congratulations to 100,000 won. In general, these moneys are never short for treating to meals and preparing a present to show one's good faith.

 

 In the long run, the Kim Young-ran law will increase our social public interest and the nation's people will benefit. With this law, we cannot eliminate all the culture of request, rooted in our society, but it is a catalyst to eradicate them. A good beginning is half the battle. I hope the Kim Young-ran law will start such a pleasant movement.

L.L.F reporter Kim Eun-young

 

 Different changes: Before 'It is reasonable', After 'I didn't know it could be like this'

(Opinion against the 'Kim Young-ran Law')

 

 A housewife, who has been working at a famous infant care community website, left several messages supporting adoption of the 'Kim Young-ran Law' like: "This law is supposed to have happened already", or "In Korea, there are so many people who want to eat complimentary dinners costing more than 30,000 won". . But after implementation of this law, she has had several negative experiences. At the beginning of this month, she left several messages again, but this time in opposition to the law: 'When I gave a cake to my daughter’s kindergarten with the purpose of eating it together with her classmates for her birthday, it came back. My daughter was so disappointed.' She also posted, 'My husband received a tire exchange discount coupon, but we got a message to try not to use it for a while because my husband is in government service.'

 

 Of course, people agreed on the purpose of this law that tries to root out corruption, but people found that it is different from what they had expected. Because the applicable standards of the law are somewhat vague and confusing, public attitude about the law has changed slightly. As time goes by, people have started thinking that they may unintentionally violate the law. This fear has caused people to have high anxiety over accepting even the smallest nicety.

 

 After implementation, internet search results revealed the publics uncertainty over the law. Some of the most searched items from 9.24~10.12 were, 'Kim Young-ran law dining', 'Kim Young-ran law 10 commandments', 'Kim Young-ran can coffee' and 'Kim Young-ran penalty'.. Unfortunately, this is the result of public unrest.

 

 The problems do not stop here. Many negative predictions have become facts. For example, many small businesses in the community have shut down due to a decline in group meetings.

 

 The legislation has triggered the biggest problems for local farmers, cattle raisers, fishermen and food retailers as well as small and middle sized businesses. Their peak seasons are around Chuseok and New Year’s Day, when Koreans traditionally buy expensive gift sets of high quality beef, premium fruits, and dried fish with the purpose of showing gratitude.

 

 The Korea Rural Economic Institute predicts the nation’s agriculture, livestock and fisheries industries will lose 900 billion won in sales per year.

 

 In addition, flower shop owners selling "hwa-hwan", or standing flowers which are very expensive and are sent to weddings or funerals as a sign of respect, have been worried that they will have to shut down.

 

 One citizen, who has run a flower shop for 10 years said, "After implementation of this law, the delivery or selling for hwa-hwan declined one-third, and I think it will continue to decline gradually. I had to have enough flowers previously, but now I am worrying about stock. I have to purchase just a few at a higher price."

 

 The most serious problem is that the kind-hearted culture in Korea has vanished a lot. One student in a high school said, "I want to give a pack of peppero to my teacher to show my gratitude, but after implementation of the Kim Young-ran law, I can't do this."

 

 Actually, into the law, it took an ambiguous attitude. According to article 5.1-7 in the Kim Young-ran law, 'Except the act against the social rule, it will be okay', a small snack would be okay. But, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission pointed out that it could be another purpose like giving good grades. So, people have been confused a lot.

 

 Like these, there are many problems with the Kim Young-ran law as it was implemented without preparation. People who want to root out corruption in our society have to think about whether this law is really the answer.

L.L.F reporter Bak Ji-won

 

박지원, 김은영  jwn0320@naver.com