2015_03_04 South Korea, Seeking to Curb Graft, Passes Law Restricting Gifts

South Korea, Seeking to Curb Graft, Passes Law Restricting Gifts
By CHOE SANG-HUN March 04, 2015
韩国通过新反腐法打击收礼行为
CHOE SANG-HUN 2015年03月04日
SEOUL, South Korea — The National Assembly of South Korea passed an anticorruption law on Tuesday that calls for up to three years in prison for journalists, teachers and public servants who accept single cash donations or gifts valued at more than a million won, or about $910.
韩国首尔——周二，韩国国民大会(South Korean National Assembly)通过了一部反腐法律，将对一次性接受价值超过100万韩元（即910美元，约合5700元人民币）的礼金或礼物的记者、教师和公务员判处最高三年的有期徒刑。

Passage of the law signaled a milestone in the country, where bestowing and receiving envelopes of cash and other gifts have long been part of the culture — and a suspected channel of bribery.
这部法律的通过在韩国具有里程碑意义。

在这个国家，长期以来，接受和赠送现金红包和其他礼物已经成为其文化的一部分，也被怀疑是一种行贿渠道。

In South Korea, businesspeople, politicians and senior government officials often host expensive dinners, send gift sets during holidays and make cash donations at weddings and funerals, making it difficult to determine what amounts to corruption and what should be accepted as part of social etiquette.
在韩国，商人、政界人士和政府高级官员在节日期间通常会组织奢华的酒宴，赠送礼物，在婚礼和葬礼上赠送礼金，因此很难确定哪些属于腐败，哪些是作为社交礼仪可以被接受的。

Until now, people have been punished for graft only when it was established in court that they had accepted a gift in return for doing a specific favor, like helping the gift-giver obtain a government license or school admission.
迄今为止，只有法庭确认一个人接受了礼物并因此为送礼者提供了特殊照顾，比如帮助其人获得政府的执照或学校的入学资格，才会因受贿而受到惩罚。

Such a stringent legal requirement has raised concerns that much of the corruption in the country has gone unpunished, especially the so-called sponsorship relationships that some businesspeople and politicians were said to maintain with prosecutors, government officials and journalists. Under that arrangement, the “sponsors” would wine and dine the recipients, as well as provide them with financial support, not necessarily for any immediate favor but for long-term collusive ties.
如此高的法律要求让人们担心，这个国家的很多腐败行为没有受到惩罚，尤其是一些商人和政界人士据称与检方、政府官员和记者保持的赞助关系。

在这种关系中，“赞助者”会用好酒美食款待被赞助者，向其提供经济支持，这并不一定是为了眼前的回报，而是为了培育长期的互通有无的关系。

Under the new law, which is to take effect in October 2016, public servants, teachers and journalists will face fines or prison terms of up to three years for taking such gifts exceeding about $910, regardless of whether there is evidence of bribery or influence-peddling.
这部新法将于2016年10月生效。

根据该法律，公务员、教师和记者如果接受超过约910美元的此类礼物，将面临罚款或至多三年的有期徒刑，无论是否有证据来证明存在贿赂或权力寻租行为。

They will face similar punishment if their spouses receive such gifts from people that involve conflicts of interest. (Those who report their spouse’s gifts to the authorities will be exempt.) Those who receive gifts valued at less than the designated amount may be fined if those gifts involve a conflict of interest.
如果是上述人员的配偶从涉及利益冲突的人那里获得这样的礼物，其本人也将面临类似惩罚。

（举报配偶此类行为的人可以免于处罚。

）对于收到价值低于指定数额的礼物的人员，如果礼物涉及利益冲突的话，可能会面临罚款。

The government said it was working to assemble a list of gifts that would be exempt from the new law, such as small cash donations at the weddings and funerals of friends and relatives.
政府称，正在制定一个不受新法律监管的礼品清单，比如亲友婚礼和葬礼上的小额礼金。

Demands for a tougher anticorruption law have gained support in South Korea in recent years after prosecutors who received a Mercedes-Benz or other gifts from their sponsors went unpunished because there was no proof of bribery.
最近几年，对更严厉反腐法律的要求在韩国越来越受支持，此前，有检察官从赞助人那里得到了奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)汽车和其他礼物，但由于不能证明是受贿行为，所以未受惩罚。

Pressure on political parties to come up with the law mounted after it was revealed that corruption among government regulators played a central role in failing to prevent the sinking of a ferry that killed more than 300 people, mostly teenage students, in April. Lawmakers subsequently decided that journalists and schoolteachers should be subject to the same anticorruption rules as public servants.
在爆出政府监管机构的腐败是未能避免去年4月份客轮沉船事故的主要原因之后，各个政党在出台这部法律上都面临了更大的压力。

这起事故导致300多人死亡，其中主要是青少年学生。

议员们后来认定，记者和中小学教师应该和公务员遵守同样的反腐规定。

In the 2014 Corruption Perception Index compiled by Transparency International, South Korea ranked 43rd among the 175 countries surveyed.
在透明国际(Transparency International)编制的2014年的清廉指数(Corruption Perception Index)
中，韩国在175个被调查国家中排名第43。