By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

More than eight out of 10 Koreans do not trust the government's anti-corruption drives, according to a survey by Transparency International (TI), the Berlin-based NGO, Wednesday.

The agency's ``Global Corruption Barometer'' showed that 81 percent of Koreans distrusted the government's policies against corruption, while 16 percent said the measures were effective.

The barometer is a survey that assesses the general public's view of corruption. The survey was conducted last November on 73,132 people in 69 countries, including 700 Koreans aged over 16.

The result is a regression from last year's 67 percent, and is far worse than the world average 56 percent ― it is one of the worst in the world, along with 86 percent in Israel and 84 percent in Lithuania.

Koreans also showed distrust in other sectors of society. Out of a full score of 100 which indicates ``highly transparent,'' political parties got 17.5, followed by the legislature with 20, business with 30, public officials with 32.5, and the judiciary and media with 35 each.

The average score of the six sectors was 27.5, far less than the world average 35.

About 2 percent of Koreans also said they have offered bribes in the last year, up from last year's 1 percent.

``The result shows that the Lee Myung-bak government, which reduced many of the former administration's anti-corruption drives, has not come up with alternative measures,'' said Kang Sung-goo, secretary-general of TI Korea.

He urged the government to set up an independent anti-corruption organization.

This year, the barometer adopted the category of the ``state capture'' of businesses, meaning the private sector's bribery of public officials to make laws and government policies favorable to them. About 50 percent of respondents across the world worried about state capture in their countries.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr