Anti-graft law hits flower shops

By Yoon Ja-young

The implementation of the anti-graft law is seriously affecting flower shops and growers, as many consumers are refraining from sending flowers for special occasions out of fear that they might be breaching the law.

Park, a flower farmer, said the loss of business is keeping her awake at night.

“I understand that the law has good intentions, but it is too tough. People stopped giving flowers as gifts.”

The so-called Kim Young-ran Act, named after the former Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission chief who proposed it in 2011, bans public officials, journalists and teachers from being treated to meals costing more than 30,000 won or receiving more than 50,000 won in gifts or money for congratulations and condolences exceeding 100,000 won.

It directly hit the flower shops in the country where 53.2 percent of flowers are purchased as gifts. In Korea, it has been customary to send a basket of flowers or a pot of orchids to congratulate someone on a promotion.

Sending huge flower easels to weddings or funerals has also been common. The flower easels standing in line at a wedding or funeral used to reflect the power or influence of the person, usually the father of the bride or groom, or the son of the deceased.

Baik Ji-sun, a manager at a wedding hall in downtown Seoul, reported that the number of flower easels sent to weddings seems to have dropped by half over the first weekend following the implementation of the law on Sept. 28. “Flower shops are complaining that some customers who received the flowers refused to accept them, on fear that it will cause trouble,” she said.

Park said that some small flower shops around her have already closed down. “It’s been only a few days since the law was implemented, but the market is already frozen,” she said.

“It takes between 300 million won and 500 million won to run a flower farm. The farms hire many workers and there are numerous wholesalers and retailers. There are many people in the industry and we are all concerned.” She added that some flower farms are considering switching to other crops.

The Korea Rural Economic Institute estimated that the Kim Young-ran Act will decrease flower gifts by between 24.4 and 28.5 percent, which will incur a loss between 91.4 billion won and 106.7 billion won for the farmers. It added that the law will lead to serious decreases of some agricultural products, including flowers, Korean beef and ginseng, due to falling demand for gifts.

“The law will have both a direct and indirect impact on the agricultural industry,” said Lee Yong-sun, a researcher at the institute.

“As negative sentiment about gifts spreads following the Kim Young-ran Act, the farmers who focused on high-quality products to survive the opening of the agricultural market will face chaos,” he said, suggesting raising the ceiling for agricultural gifts to minimize the impact.