Episode 9&10: Biri, The Unstoppable Attraction of Money
- misaengasia
- Nov 2, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 7, 2018
Recently, the term biri is repeatedly mentioned and has become one of the most common terminologies that are heard on the news. Biri is known to be committed mostly by politicians, government bureaucrats, and business people (Oh 2017, 1) with businesses. The unforgiveable business corruption in South Korea’s working environment is well demonstrated throughout the ninth and tenth episodes of “Misaeng: An Incomplete Life.” As portrayed in the drama, although it is quite common in Korea today, the issue of corruption is by far one the most shocking news that make a chaotic working environment as it did to One International when Bak Jong-sik’s corruption scandal has been exposed. Even though the law enforcement has been far stricter and more transparent than before (Oh 2017, 1) with this issue, corruption is still increasing drastically without showing signs of decreasing.
There are different types of business corruption, which include bribery, fraud, embezzlement, and kickbacks; however, bribery is by far the most common corruption in Korea. Since 2016, the issue of corruption has rapidly begun to be exposed to the world with the former President Bak Geun-hye’s bribery case with Samsung for receiving more than 100 million won (CAD$115,000) (Kim 2018, para. 1). The issue of corruption does not only occur between gongmuwon such as prosecutors and business people or among themselves (corruption scandals between gongmuwon are very well portrayed in other discussion drama “Secret Forest,” which was broadcasted on tvN in 2017 and directed by An Gil-ho), but it is also very common among business people themselves whether they are jaebeol or just normal employees. This issue mostly occurs through the negotiating process when a small business tries to get a contract with larger companies such as One International in the drama by bribing money to the employees from larger companies. This following case was portrayed with Bak Jong-sik’s past when a chairman from a small company greased money to Bak Jong-sik, asking him for his approval for the contract accomplishment. Later, he used the power of gapjil by suggesting “win-win” negotiations to other companies by demanding money from them as a “compensation” for making contracts with them. There are many employees in Korea that are similar to Mr. Bak, who are eager to make easy money because they believe their salary is not enough for the amount of work and effort they put in for the companies. Moreover, these types of workers usually accept money in this type of situation since the success of making contracts is directly related to their performance and their chances of getting promoted.
As a concluding remark, episode nine and ten conceptualize biri—the abuse of entrusted power by someone for their private gain—which is one of the most eye-catching news in Korea today. So, how can a society solve this problem? Among many alternative solutions, the most effective solution to cease the issue of biri would be “strengthening citizens demand for anti-corruption and empowering them to hold government accountable” (Transparency International 2016, para. 5), which would build mutual trust between citizens and the government.
Written By: Aiden Chanhee Hwang
494 words according to WordCounter
Here are some discussion questions..
1. Is there a corruption case you know other than the former President Bak Geun-hye’s corruption scandal? If so, how did it occur? (For example, former President I Myeong-bak’s taking 6.1 billion won (CAD$7.2 million) from Samsung in bribes that were used in legal expenses for the company he owned called DAS)
2. Is there any other alternative way to cease the problem of biri? How would it help Korea to solve the following problem? (Some of them can be found from the source I used called Transparency International)
Bibliography:
Oh, Ingyu. "From credible threats to credible commitments? the changing face of South Korean corruption." In The Changing Face of Corruption in the Asia Pacific, edited by Rama, Marie dela, Rowley Chris. 343-351. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Ltd, 2017.
Kim, Min-kyung. “Samsung Bribery Amount Emerges as Issue in Park Geun-hye Case.” Hankyoeoh, Apr. 20, 2018. http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/839975.html (Accessed on Nov. 02, 2018). Transparency International. “How to Stop Corruption: 5 Key Ingredients.” Transparency International. Mar. 10, 2016. https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/how_to_stop_corruption_5_key_ingredient (Accessed on Nov. 02, 2018).
Hey everyone,
I think the quality of the discussions is going up as we go - thanks to everyone for your engagement. Shoutout to Yuxin and Sion for bringing in external material (just make sure you at least give a link to the source of your statistics - it’s good that you’re bringing them up, but we might want to find out more and you should acknowledge where they came from).
A corruption case that has recently been a serious issue is that of “biri kindergarten.” The principals of numerous nursery schools have spent the fees collected from the parents on their own expenses. One of them used the nursery’s chequing account for purchasing brand handbags and paying for hotels, karaoke, alcohol, and even from adult shops. They spent about 37,000,000 won (about $43,447) of the nursery’s money. (Source: http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/865600.html) In another case, the principal ordered the cook to put just one single egg into egg soup that was for 30 kids. For a snack, they gave the children 3 (pieces of) grapes per person. Many parents are furious about this issue and are deeply concerned.
The problem of biri and…
The theme of biri actually reminds me of Kim Young Ran Act which was established in educational setting in South Korea about two years ago. I believe that this anti-graft law forbid the students from making any kind of gifting act to the educators to prevent special treatment or discrimination resulting from such an act. If implemented wisely, a similar no-gifting policy can indeed curb the frequency of bribes in the work setting but I agree with everyone else that biri cannot be eradicated completely, especially in a capitalist society like South Korea. Inevitably, there will always be those who continue to abuse their entrusted power regardless.
Yuxin, I totally agree with your point--"people need to do is raising the consciousness and understanding that work should be done because of procedures, not money." As you said, though police officers are there to be "enforcing the law" to stop people's wrongdoings, but rather there are number of police officers around the world who are breaking the law by involving in corruption: some offer money from people including higher ranked gongmuwon or jaebeol by covering up their or their family's crime. Though they might feel guilty for taking these actions, they might also think that 'No one will know about this if I just keep myself quiet.' However, they should understand that this goes against the law. Therefore, in…
Humans are innately greedy, we always want what is best for us. We do things that we perceive will benefit us the most. Which is why corruption will always be around and there is no way of stopping it. As soon as we get rid of the top players of corruption, there will always be someone else waiting to do the exact same thing. Raising wages is a creative idea, however, as people are inherently greedy, they will always want more.
Although we cannot get rid of corruption, we can curb it though. As Jonathan says, companies with no-gifting policies are quite successful at curbing non-monetary bribes. Countries such as China, is currently trying hard to end their notoriety for…