Number of Conservatives Increases

Over the past decade, the ideological inclination of Koreans has become conservative, and more Koreans value economic growth, according to a survey titled, “The Lives and Value Changes of Koreans.” The survey was conducted by the Korea Social Science Date Center (KSDC) at the request of the Institute 21 for Peace Studies and Peace Foundation 21 (Head: Lee Nam-young of Sookmyung Women’s University), an affiliate of this paper. The KSDC asked 1,200 men and women across the country last December.

The survey is a part of the World Values Survey, which has been conducted every five years since 1980 in 80 countries with the same questionnaire.

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 as “the most progressive” and 10 “the most conservative,” respondents assessed themselves at 5.33 in 1995, 5.43 in 2001, and 5.78 in 2005, moving from progressive to conservative. The midpoint of the 10-point scale is 5.5.

To the question, “Where do you belong to, the progressive or the conservative?” 39.1 percent answered “conservative” (7 to 10), a larger proportion than those who answered “neutral (32.3 percent)” (5 to 6) and “progressive (28.6 percent)” (1 to 4). The “conservatives” have grown by 9.8 percentage points from 29.3 percent in 1995.

When asked to compare the priority they place on economic growth and environmental protection, 52.5 percent said they favored economic growth and 35.1 percent favored environmental protection. On the question asking which should be the national goal to be attained in the next decade, the majority answered, “high economic growth (57.9 percent),” rather than “increasing participation at work or society (23.9 percent)” or “strengthening national defense (7.05 percent).

Moreover, 75 percent said “economic stability” was far more important than “development into a humane society (16.8 percent)” or “eradication of crime (3.5 percent).” In the 1995 survey, 50.0 percent answered economic stability, compared to 35.3 percent for development into a humane society.

In the survey on degree of trust in organizations and groups, the most trusted groups were the green groups (71.7 percent), followed by human rights and charity groups (71.2 percent), female movement groups (68.4 percent), TV broadcasters (66.8 percent), newspapers (64.3 percent), civic groups (62.8 percent), and the police (58.7 percent).

To the question, “If the general elections were held tomorrow, which party will you vote for?” 51.7 percent opted for the Grand National Party (GNP), followed by the Uri Party with 23.8 percent, the Democratic Liberal Party (DLP) with 15.3 percent, and the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) with 7.2 percent. For the question, “The party you will never want to vote for,” 37.1 percent pointed to the Uri Party, followed by the GNP with 24.7 percent, the DLP with 13.0 percent, and MDP with 10.9 percent.

Myoung-Gun Lee sunny60@donga.com gun43@donga.com