Mick Hartley

Yes, once again it's….North Korea! 

North Korea is the most corrupt country in the world, a nonprofit business association said Tuesday, marking the third year in a row the DPRK has earned the title. 

Trace International ranked the country 194th out of 194 countries in its latest annual report that rates countries based on four key corruption indicators. Of the indicators, North Korea scored the worst in the world for the capacity of civil society oversight and expectations of business-to-government bribes.

But…what about.all those anti-corruption drives?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has launched several anti-corruption campaigns since coming to power, promising to “mercilessly” punish corrupt party officials. But corruption has become deeply entrenched in the country’s society since the 1990s, when a devastating famine pushed even party officials to the brink of starvation.

“Corruption pays the bills” in North Korea, explained Chris Carothers, a non-resident fellow at the European Center for North Korean Studies.

“Corruption also helps the regime politically because private citizens with enough money can bribe their way out of onerous government rules and restrictions — enabling anything from commerce to travel to changing your ‘songbun’ status,” he added, referring to North Korea’s de facto caste system.

But Kim’s crackdowns have been focused on keeping mid-level officials in check and preventing them from siphoning off resources that would otherwise flow to higher-ups in the regime, Carothers added, rather than quashing the forms of corruption that grease the wheels for basic market activities.

Ah. That makes sense. Keeping all the goodies for the bossman.

Elsewhere, Norway comes top – least corrupt – with the UK 6th and the US 18th. Making up the rest of the bottom five: Venezuela, Syria, Equatorial Guinea, Turkmenistan.