Economic Slump More Serious Than Nukes
Korea Times Poll Shows 53% Oppose US Policy on North Korea
By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
South Koreans believe the most serious problem facing the country is an economic slump rather than security threats from North Korea, a survey said yesterday.
A majority of young people dislike Japan and the United States more than North Korea even after its nuclear test on Oct. 9, according to The Korea Times poll conducted by MediaResearch on the occasion of the newspaper's 56th anniversary, which falls today.
Of the 1,000 adults polled across the nation, 22.3 percent chose the economic slowdown as the country's most serious problem, followed by political problems (14.5 percent) and socio-economic polarization (13.1 percent). Those who picked security threats accounted for 12.2 percent.
The poll, conducted from Oct. 28-29, has a plus or minus 3.1 percent margin of error.
Views on a free trade agreement (FTA) currently under negotiations between South Korea and the United States, were almost evenly split. About 45.8 percent supported the pact, while 43.8 percent opposed it.
Such splits were also found in North Korean affairs. Some 48 percent urged the government to scrap its engagement policy, while 46 percent said the basic direction should be maintained although some minor changes seem inevitable.
More than half of the respondents, however, expressed negative views on the U.S. hard-line policy toward the isolated North _ 52.6 percent said they opposed the U.S. policy on Pyongyang, while 39.6 percent said they supported it.
When asked about whether a military strike on the North's nuclear facilities should be undertaken, 65.2 percent of respondents said ``No'' while only 28.9 percent answered ``Yes.'' Opposition was high among those in their 20s to 50s, and those in their 60s and over were evenly split on the query.
A similar generational gap was also found in a question asking the country they dislike most. In all, three of 10 people picked up Japan, two selected North Korea and one chose the United States. Those who hated China stayed at 5.3 percent.
Those under 60 generally hate Japan more than North Korea, those over 60 disliked North Korea most. Negative views on the United States were highest among those in their 20s (19 percent).
On the contrary, 37.4 percent chose the European Union (EU) as their most favorite country, followed by the United States (18.9 percent), Southeast Asian nations (5.8 percent), Japan (4.7 percent), North Korea (3 percent) and China (2.5 percent).
As for presidential hopefuls for next year's election, former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak topped the list with an approval rating of 33.1 percent, followed by Park Geun-hye, former chairwoman of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) with 23 percent and Goh Kun, former prime minister who is currently not affiliated with any political party, with 18.3 percent.
There was no single candidate from the governing camp who received support of more than 3 percent.
Representing conservatives in the country, the GNP kept its lead in the approval ratings with 46.8 percent, followed by the ruling Uri Party (12.7 percent) and the Democratic Party (8.2 percent) and the Democratic Labor Party (6.7 percent).
About 52 percent of the respondents said Korea will have a good future over the next decade. Contrary to the prevailing view, only 8.7 percent of the Koreans have negative view on foreigners living in Korea _ indicating Koreans see themselves as not xenophobic.
More than 61 percent said they have neither positive nor negative sentiment on foreigners living in Korea. About 16.2 percent of those aged above 60 said they do not have good sentiment toward foreigners, meaning that the younger generations are more accommodative than the older generation toward foreigners.
Only 17.2 percent said the nation's internationalization has been progressing well and only 17.4 percent said Korea is rated fairly globally.
Lee Ryang-hoon, senior research executive of MediaResearch said that polls showed Korea is quite divided on all issues, including the FTA, the engagement policy with North Korea, and publics view on US policy toward Pyongyang. He said what is surprising is the poll result showed that people were more concerned with bread and butter issues rather than the nuclear threat from the North. The data indicates the seriousness of the current economic plight of citizens in the polarizing economy where the rich are becoming richer and the poor, poorer he said.
He said Koreans are quite ambivalent toward the United States. The poll showed that 18.9 percent said they like the United States. It is the second most loved country. At the same time, it is the third most disliked country after Japan and North Korea. The younger generation, blue-collar workers, students and the wealthy show high degree of antipathy toward the United States. The good sentiment toward the United States is more evident among the seniors aged above 50s, the housewives (22.9 percent) and farmers and fishermen (23.2 percent).
Why the EU is most favored among Koreans? Lee said the rate is higher because the EU consists of many countries and Koreans like Switzerland.
