By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter

Foreign white-collar workers in Korea are giving local civil servants a failing grade when it comes to running a clean government. A new survey from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission found more than half of foreign nationals in the poll said, ``Korean government workers are corrupt.''

The survey conducted by local opinions research firm Research Plus questioned 200 foreign residents in Korea working for multinational investment companies, foreign embassies and commerce chambers, and released its results Friday.

In the survey, 50.5 percent of foreign professionals said Korea's government office workers were corrupt, up from 45.5 percent last year.

In this year's survey, only 17.5 percent of those polled said local government workers were not corrupt.

Foreign workers listed several reasons for this ― more than half, at 55.4 percent, said they've read recent news stories about government corruption or scandals, while almost 20 percent said they had heard personal stories from their colleagues, acquaintances or friends. Some 13 percent said they had witnessed incidents involving government corruption and 11 percent said they had experienced it firsthand.

Many said this is hurting foreign companies trying to do business locally. Among those who said local government workers are corrupt, nearly 60 percent said the problem is serious enough to hinder foreign companies doing business and investing in Korea, up from 19 percent in 2007.

The survey also found more than 5 percent of foreign white-collar workers had offered gifts or feted local government workers on behalf of their companies. Among them, 36 percent said they did it to keep a good working relationship, while 27 percent cited advice from colleagues saying it was a necessary part of local business custom. Another 27 percent said local government employees directly asked them for gifts or expensive meals.

Foreign professionals also gave low marks for the governance of Korean companies ― 40 percent said local companies' governance level remains ``low.'' More than 20 percent said the local business environment still favors chaebol over small- and medium-sized companies, while 25 percent argued conglomerates need to further clean up their ``cozy'' relationship with government officials. About 20 percent also criticized the lack of transparent accounting practices and said the chaebol management structure needs further reform.

They offered up several possible explanations for the corruption problems ― 35 percent argued that the local culture tolerates corruption behavior; others said administrative rules and practices encourage such behavior. Some also cited the legal system, which they described as being lenient toward those charged with corruption.

At a policy conference held in Seoul, Friday, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission spoke about its campaign to root out corrupt practices. The meeting also brought together leaders from international business communities, including Tami Overby, president of the American Chamber of Commerce Korea; and Jean-Marie Hurtiger, chairman of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

``Our anti-corruption campaign is part of an effort to strengthen our local economy. Our commission will continue to push for reform measures targeting corrupt practices that hurt corporate management,'' commission Chairman Yang Kun told the foreign business leaders.

michaelha@koreatimes.co.kr