North Korea is the Country with the Highest 'Bribery Risk'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Dong-pyo] North Korea has been identified as the country with the highest bribery risk in the world. It ranks last among 194 countries worldwide.

According to the '2020 Bribery Risk Matrix' report released on the 1st by TRACE, a US-based corporate risk management solution provider, North Korea's bribery risk score is 93 points (on a scale of 1 to 100, with higher numbers indicating worse conditions).

The bribery risk, calculated based on four categories: government-business interactions, bribery prohibition and enforcement regulations, government and citizen service transparency, and civil society oversight capacity, places South Korea at 20th (22 points), near the top 10%, and China at 126th (54 points). Other low-ranking countries include Bolivia (151st, 60 points), Iran (177th, 70 points), Venezuela (191st, 82 points), and South Sudan (192nd, 85 points). TRACE classified North Korea along with Cuba, Iran, and Cambodia as "representative countries where there are no bribery prohibition laws but the government holds strong authority."

North Korea scored the lowest with 100 points in 'civil society oversight capacity,' which measures press freedom and civil society participation, and also received the lowest score of 100 points in the category asking whether there are legal provisions or deterrents prohibiting bribery. It scored 98 points in public-private interactions and 73 points in transparency.

TRACE calculated the bribery risk for each country based on data from international organizations and groups such as the World Bank (WB), Reporters Without Borders, the World Economic Forum (WEF), and The World Justice Project (WJP). In cases where data was insufficient, machine learning algorithms were used to estimate the total score.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.