Strict outcome · Comparison Pair · Bribery
Low-rank civil servant fired for accepting a ₩50,000 envelope
Harm
₩50,000 (~$38)
Sentence
₩100만 fine
Court
District Court
Guideline
—
Comparison thesis
₩50,000 in one envelope ends a career. ₩10,000,000 across many dinners is acquitted.
Strict outcome · current case
₩100만 fine
Fine + dismissal
Low-rank civil servant fired for accepting a ₩50,000 envelope
Public official · Harm: ₩50,000 (~$38)
Lenient outcome
Acquittal
Acquittal — sub-threshold per occurrence
Senior official acquitted: lavish dinners 'split below ₩1M each'
Public official · Harm: Cumulative ~₩10M, each occurrence < ₩1M
The Kim Young-ran Act draws bright lines at ₩1M per occurrence and ₩3M per period — bright lines that sophisticated defendants can engineer around, but ordinary low-rank officials cannot.
Case summary
A junior civil servant accepted a single ₩50,000 cash envelope from a member of the public during a complaint intake. Under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act (Kim Young-ran Act, ₩1,000,000 / ₩30,000 thresholds), the employee was dismissed and criminally fined.
Disparity flags
Sources
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