Corona Chuseok 'Kim Young-ran Act' announced an upward revision of the upper limit of agricultural and fisheries products futures from 100,000 won to 200,000 won.

A major Korean holiday, Chuseok (also known as Korean Thanksgiving), is coming at the end of the month (September 30 – October 2), and for this holiday season only, the Korean government has passed a temporary increase to the gifts threshold under the Anti-Graft Act.  The temporary increase applies only to gifts comprised of agricultural/fisheries products (described below), and the limit will increase from KRW 100,000 (approx. US$85) to KRW 200,000 (approx. US$170).  The increased limit is applicable from September 10 to October 4, 2020.

As you may be aware, the Anti-Graft Act generally prohibits giving (1) anything of value to Public Officials (including officers and employees of government entities, state-owned enterprises, public entities, public or private media companies, public or private schools) when related to the Public Official’s duties, and (2) any benefit exceeding KRW 1 million per instance or KRW 3 million in aggregate per fiscal year when not related to the Public Official’s duties.  

The Anti-Graft Act provides several exceptions, however, including for meals and gifts provided to facilitate the relationship or as a matter of courtesy (but not when there is a “directly pending matter”).  The meals limit is KRW 30,000 and the gifts limit is KRW 50,000, with a higher limit of KRW 100,000 for gifts comprised of at least 50% agricultural or fisheries products.  “Agricultural or fisheries products” are defined by statute and include, for example, boxes of fruit, meat, or fish, which are common holiday gifts; however, they do not include, for example, salt or certain processed foods.

To address the difficulties within the agricultural and fisheries industries in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC; government entity overseeing the Anti-Graft Act) proposed a temporary increase to the limit for gifts comprised of agricultural and fisheries products, from KRW 100,000 to KRW 200,000.  It passed the State Council’s review on September 10, 2020, and will apply until October 4, 2020.