SEOUL, South Korea – A tough new anti-graft law came into force in South Korea Wednesday with many hailing it as a milestone to help root out widespread low-level corruption. Dubbed the Kim Young-Ran law after the former Supreme Court judge who drafted it, the sweeping legislation covers some four million public servants and employees of education institutions in the country of 50 million. The law however drew complaints from local businesses and restaurants who feared sales would slump. South Korea – the world’s 11th biggest economy and the Asia’s fourth largest – has fared relatively poorly in corruption or transparency levels. Bribery scandals involving politicians or high-level officials and rich businessmen have been fixture in South Korean politics for decades.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer September 28, 2016 05:48 UTC