South Korea’s perceived level of corruption in the public sector has remained steady for the past seven years, scoring 56 out of 100 last year, the international corruption awareness index showed.

Korea ranked 37th out of 168 countries, moving up six notches from 2014 in the Corruption Perceptions Index report released by the Berlin-based Transparency International. Korea scored 5.6 out of 10 and ranked 40th in 2008.

The index refers to how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived to be, based on corruption-related data gathered by experts. A score of 70 and above is considered generally clean.

Out of the 34 OECD member countries, Korea was one of the lowest-ranked nations, sharing the 27th spot with the Czech Republic.

A number of high-profile corruption cases occurred in Korea last year, including the Sung Wan-jong scandal in which a number of heavyweight politicians were accused of receiving money from the deceased businessman. A series of corruption cases in the defense industry was also revealed.

North Korea, which joined the list in 2011, scored 8 out of 100 and shared last place with Somalia in 2015. Singapore was the highest-ranking Asian country.
(Graphic: Nam Kyung-don)