ASEAN Youth, Most Trusting of 'Korea'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] It has been revealed that the country most trusted by the youth of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is ‘Korea.’ Korean youth, on the other hand, named the United States as the country they trust the most.

The Korea-ASEAN Center announced on the 25th that in the ‘2021 Korea-ASEAN Youth Mutual Perception Survey,’ 93.6% of local ASEAN youth and 96.7% of ASEAN youth residing in Korea chose Korea as the most trusted country.

The survey was conducted from August to September last year, targeting 1,800 local youth from nine ASEAN countries excluding Myanmar, 500 ASEAN youth living in Korea, and 1,000 Korean youth, totaling 3,300 respondents.

ASEAN refers to the 10 Southeast Asian countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Approximately 660 million people reside there, and the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 reached $3.1062 trillion (about 3,527 trillion KRW).

Local ASEAN youth responded that they trust Japan (92%) and Australia (87.6%), and ASEAN youth residing in Korea also answered that they trust Japan (88.2%) and Australia (91.7%).

The trust level in China was low among both local ASEAN youth (57.9%) and ASEAN youth residing in Korea (38.9%).

Korean youth’s trust in ASEAN reached 64.4%, surpassing Japan (39%) and China (16.7%). However, it was lower than that for the United States (82.7%) and Australia (80.1%).

When asked, “Which country will be most helpful for your country’s future?” local ASEAN youth ranked the ASEAN region first (92.5%), while ASEAN youth residing in Korea chose Korea (96.9%).

Notably, a majority of ASEAN youth (78.5% locally, 61.7% residing in Korea) selected China as a helpful country.

This was interpreted as reflecting expectations and perceptions that China’s status in East Asia and the global economy, as well as its bilateral economic relations with ASEAN countries, make it a necessary country for ASEAN’s future development.

On the other hand, Korean youth considered ASEAN (82.2%) as the second most helpful region for the future after the United States (89.9%).