A Far East perspective on disparity and white-collar sentencing

I am not sure if democracy is on the march, but concern about sentencing disparity certainly is.  A few days ago I noted in this post an article from Saudi Arabia discussing sentencing disparity and proposals for sentencing guidelines.  Today, I see this similar story from South Korea discussing sentencing disparity in the wake of a lenient white-collar sentence:

Justice Minister Chun Jung-bae has vowed to have white-collar criminals, including high-profile businessmen and politicians, get heavier punishments to ensure that all people are equal before the law.  Chun said on Sunday that people think punishment against white-collar crimes is too light in South Korea, and that the punishment here is actually lighter than in other countries.

His remark came after the Doosan Group brothers, who misappropriated 28.6 billion won in company funds, recently received suspended jail terms.  The public criticized the court for being too lenient with them....  He cited the financial records manipulation scandals of WorldCom and Enron of the U.S., and compared them with Korea's penal system, which has been lenient to criminals having money or power.  Bernie Ebbers, former CEO of WorldCom, was sentenced to 25 years in jail for manipulating $11 billion in financial records.  But the four Doosan brothers who embezzled 28.6 billion won in company funds over 10 years were indicted without detention and were sentenced to suspended prison terms.

Regarding such unfairness in punishment, the Presidential Committee on Judicial Reform has discussed adopting guidelines on fair sentencing.  "The guidelines will prevent courts from making rulings influenced by the social status or the individuality of the defendants, rather than by legal standards, and make the court rulings more predictable and consistent,'' Chun said.