The special counsel arrested Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. on Feb. 27 on his bribery charges. Bribery charges are not a problem just for Samsung. The special counsel has not started investigating other enterprises like Lotte or SK because of their shortage of time.

However, the detention of a leader has a lot of impact and lessons. The decision will not only bring crippling effects on Samsung’s image as a global enterprise but also country’s considerable economic loss. However, viewing from a long-term perspective, I hope this incident could be a turning point of bad practices in Korea. A word ‘Jung-gyeong-yu-chak’ literally means a close relationship between political and business circles. However, due to Korea’s bad custom, it socially means a back-scratching alliance of government and businesses.

In order for this word to be literally used, people should take away their habit of abusing their power and receiving preferential treatment. Political communities should stop overusing their power to ask for money from enterprises. I know that an immediate change is difficult but I really look forward to clean and honest Korea.

Choi Ye-jin
Media Communication Division ‘15

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