More Koreans hold negative views of Russia after Olympics, survey shows

Seven out of 10 Koreans believe that referees’ judgment at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics was unfair, and as a result, those who come to have a negative image towards Russia have more than doubled from before the Olympics.

According to a survey of 1,103 Koreans nationwide on the Winter Olympics, 70.4 percent of the respondents said, “Judgment at the Sochi Olympics was more unfair than previous Olympic events.” Those who replied that they have a negative image towards Russia increased from 26.3 percent before the Olympics to 59.2 percent after the event. Notably, such negative perception was higher among students who are younger. Due to effect of such sentiment, when asked what Korea need the most to improve national image at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018, seven out of 10 respondents (70.8 percent) picked “fair judgment at competitions.”

Asked in which sports they had strongest interest at the Sochi event, those who picked figure skating (89.4 percent) numbered the most, followed by short-track speed skating (79.7 percent), speed skating (75.8 percent), and curling (49.9 percent). Asked which sports they want to see the most at the Pyeongchang Olympics, the number of respondents who picked short track (63.7 percent) came in first probably due to Kim Yu-na’s retirement, followed by that of those who singled out figure skating (57.2 percent), speed skating (55.7 percent), and curling (30.8 percent). Also, seven out of 10 respondents said they will visit Olympic venues in person during the Pyeongchang event. Asked whether the Olympics need to be held in Pyeongchang, Korea, six out of 10 (65.6 percent) of the respondents replied "yes." Seven out of 10 people (75.7 percent) replied the Pyeongchang Olympics will help galvanize the Korean economy.