Episode #3: Corruption
- UBC
- Oct 4, 2018
- 3 min read
By Kirin Gosselin

Episode Synopsis (from wikipedia):
Si-mok makes a bold promise of catching the real suspect on national television, infuriating his fellow colleagues. His past aggression from his personality traits becomes an object of scrutiny. Yeo-jin later accompanies him in interviewing the victim's mother. Feeling guilty about Si-mok's apathetically insulting queries to the mother, Yeo-jin invites her to her loft for company. Chang-joon asks his father-in-law Lee Yoon-beom (Lee Kyoung-young) for advice in dealing with Si-mok snooping around the wrong places. Si-mook then tries to find who the victim had last to talk to before being killed.
Discussion:
One overarching theme shown in this series so far is this idea of corruption. Oh Ingyu mentions in their article that Korea has faced years of corruption with the government and companies. Though, corruption has changed over time, it is still quite prevalent in Korea. The type of corruption that Korea faces today is a “[jaebeol]-led one (i.e., explosion of the use of threats and corruptions by the super-rich over the poor) (243-244). As Bhargava and Bolongaita note in their book, during a survey that took place in November 2001, “citizens ranked corruption in the public sector as the fourth most serious national problem” in Korea; yet, at the same time, “collusion among business people, politicians, and bureaucrats is routinely an accepted practice” (143, 148).
The corruption focus of Stranger centers around the Deputy Chief, Lee Chang-Joon, and others who are all tied with Park Moo-Sung and his death. Park Moo-Sung, as noted in the drama, was known as a sponsor who provided money or even women to people. We end up learning the first episode that Moo-Sung attempted to give Shi-Mok his credit card because of the hard work that Shi-Mok is doing. Shi-Mok rejects the idea of corruption, though I don’t believe it’s because he rejects it because he wants to be “good” but because he lacks the capability to feel the emotion of greed. That being said, instead of accepting money, at the end of episode two and carried over into the beginning of episode three, we learn that Shi-Mok actually wants to be promoted to Chang-Joon position as Deputy Chief.
Bhargava and Bolongaita note in their book that the the reason for there to be a large number of corrupt people is because “people involved in the transaction calculate that the benefits to corrupt behavior outweigh the risks” (145). This means that people think they will be able to gain more than they would lose. Furthermore, Oh brings up the idea that those who are in high enough positions would be able to buy their way out of trouble (246). I believe that this is emphasized with we are introduced to Lee Yoon-Beom, Chang-Joon’s father-in-law. At around the 48 minute mark of episode three, Yoon-Beom and Chang-Joon are discussing what action Chang-Joon will take against Shi-Mok and his investigation. Yoon-Beom is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that nothing will damage his reputation, though he is willing to throw Chang-Joon to the wolves if need be. I think that this is interesting to take note of because we see to powerful men, who are not only family, through marriage, but also have a work relationship. Yet, what we see in that scene is a jaebeol using their power to ensure their own safety and security with disregard to the well-being of others.
Word Count: 470
————
QUESTIONS:
1) Do you think if there was a way to increase the risks towards accepting corrupt behaviour there would be a decrease in the amount of corrupt people?
2) Because corruption is such a wide spread phenomenon, what types of solutions do you think are out there to stop corruption from happening?
3) Lastly, do you think that if there is enough people talking about corruption that it could help bring an end to it?
————
Bibliography:
Oh, Ingyu. "From Credible Threats to Credible Commitments? the Changing Face
of South Korean Corruption." The Changing Face of Corruption in the Asia Pacific, 2017, 243-51.
Bhargave, Vinay Kumar, Emil P. bolongaita, Open Knowledge Repository, and World Bank
e-Library. Challenging Corruption in Asia: Case Studies and a Framework for Action.
Washington: World Bank Publications, 2003;2004;. 135-50.
Hey everyone,
Good job on putting together a pretty cohesive and accurate summary of measures against corruption. I think Wonyoung and Shannon bring up a particularly good point that corruption will always exist to some degree, that to “eradicate” corruption is merely to shift the locus of power, and perhaps it is keeping it at manageable levels or out of government that might be realistic goals. Dongjae points out that politics needs money, and that to maintain accountability you need to follow the money. But it’s also difficult to make this happen unless there’s an incentive for parties to make those details public (perhaps a benefit to their popularity?).
1) I agree with if there’s a way to increase the risks towards accepting corrupt behaviour there would be a decrease in the amount of corrupted people. However, I feel that this could happen if everyone is equally treated and everyone cooperates with the rules.
2)In my opinion, we can’t really solve or get rid of corruption, it’s always been here, and it always will. But we could improve the situation, reduce corruption by changing some behaviors. One of the most important solutions is to promote transparency and access to information. Access to information increases the responsiveness of government bodies, while simultaneously having a positive effect on the levels of public participation in a country. Another is to widening public’s…
I agree with Dongjae – dialogue is important, but meaningful action is crucial to stamping out this sort of corruption. At an individual level, the two most accessible options one can take to have their voices heard would be - in my opinion - voting and protesting. Vote for candidates or parties which promise reform or have demonstrated past actions against corruption and vote out those who fail to make good on said change. Protest as an effective method to voice your concerns. Again, as Dongjae pointed out, the protests which engulfed South Korea in 2017 demonstrate the power of organized protest and the change this can bring to a nation.
1) Fix your Romanization. I know Romanization is confusing but writing the blogs is a good time to get practice! These character names from the subtitles, that's NOT correct Romanization, in any style. And they aren't famous people, so we actually do need to write their names correctly. Bak Museong, Yi Changjun, Yi Yunbeom, Hwang Simok, and so on. 2) Oh Ingyo mentions. Can you think of a more appropriate term? I might mention something I did on the weekend. But I wouldn't include it in a journal article I struggled to write perfectly and get accepted to a journal. I would probably argue, or explain, or theorize, or boringly state or any number of other words.
3) Citation format--…
I think question one and two are kind of related, so I'll combine both and answer them.
I think the one way to prevent corruption is through the reinforcement of the law. Although the current law tries to keep an eye out for corruption, people find a loophole they can use, thus lowering the efficiency of the law. I think there should be more strict laws that can persuade people into not being tempted by corruption; if the laws are strict and the penalty is big, I think people would think twice before taking someone's bribery. For example, in episode 3, Si-mok talks about how two people were reported for corruption but after they got fired, they filed a complaint…