Anti-graft law, from conception to implementation

김영란법, 입안부터 시행까지
The government sees the so-called Kim Young-ran act as more than a small step, but as a giant leap for a better Korea.
And of course, it didn't happen overnight.
Our Hwang Hojun takes us through the history of that law, from its conception to implementation.
Korea is no stranger to corruption,... with public officials implicated in any number of scandals over the years.
However, the scandals came to a head in 2010 when a group of current and former prosecutors were tried for influence peddling and receiving bribes, sexual favors or luxurious meals... in what came to be called the "sponsor prosecutor incident."
The incident caused a public uproar, as the most prominent figure was later found not guilty and faced no charges.
Two years later, in 2012, Kim Young-ran, the chair of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission at the time, proposed a law that would punish public officials who accept bribes in any form.
After several revisions, the bill was finally submitted to the National Assembly in July of 2013.
It was held up by political wrangling and more revisions, including one in January 2015 that added journalists, private school teachers and their spouses to the list of people covered by the law.
It would become the most contentious revision yet.
Finally, the National Assembly passed the bill in March of 2015, nineteen months after it was first submitted.
Two days later, both the Korean Bar Association and the Journalists Association of Korea filed a constitutional petition claiming that the bill was unconstitutional on various grounds, including its wide scope and potential for misinterpretation and freedom of speech violations.
However, on July 28th of this year, the Constitutional Court ruled the act constitutional, rejecting all petitions to the contrary.
Two months later, the law went into effect on September 28th.
Although there are expectations that it will take some amount of trial and error to work out the kinks,... the government hopes the act will have a positive impact on Korea's future.
Hwang Hojun, Arirang News.

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