Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs Report
92.3% of Citizens Say "Political Conflict Is the Most Serious"
Nine out of ten citizens identified political conflict between progressives and conservatives as the most serious social conflict. More than half said they would not consider dating or marrying someone with different political views.
The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) released a report titled "Changes in Koreans' Perceptions of Social Conflicts and Implications" on the 5th. Pixabay
According to the report "Changes in Koreans' Perceptions of Social Conflicts and Implications," released on the 5th by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), 92.3% of survey respondents considered the conflict between progressives and conservatives as the most serious among various social conflicts. Political conflicts even influenced respondents' willingness to associate with others. When encountering someone with different political views, 71.4% said they would not be willing to participate together in civic or social group activities, and 58.2% said they would not be willing to date or marry such a person. Additionally, 33.02%, about three out of ten respondents, said they would not be willing to join friends or acquaintances for drinks if their political views differed.
Eight out of ten respondents believed that progressive-conservative conflicts would remain serious in the future and expected social conflicts caused by political disputes to intensify. Furthermore, 87.66% identified the conflict between progressives and conservatives as the type of social conflict that would become more severe in Korean society in ten years.
Regarding the future outlook of social conflicts in Korean society, 65.09% of respondents anticipated that the level would remain similar to the present. Meanwhile, 28.25% expected the conflicts to worsen, and only 6.66% believed the situation would improve.
Respondents indicated that resolving social conflicts requires efforts such as "fair and transparent law enforcement (22.31%)," "leading by example from social leaders (21.81%)," and "strengthening a comprehensive social safety net (15.44%)."
However, trust in the main agents responsible for resolving social conflicts was not very high. Regarding who should take the lead in resolution, 56.01% said the government, and 22.4% said the National Assembly and political parties, indicating that the political sphere should play a central role. Yet, trust in the executive branch (including the Presidential Office, central government, and local governments), ranked first as the main agent, was only 41.9%, falling short of half. Trust in the legislative branch (National Assembly), ranked second, was very low at 22.6%.
Besides political conflicts, the most serious current social conflicts identified were conflicts between regular and irregular workers (82.2%), labor-management conflicts (79.1%), wealth inequality (78.0%), conflicts between large corporations and small and medium enterprises (71.8%), and regional conflicts (71.5%). Following these were conflicts between homeowners and non-owners (60.9%), generational conflicts (56.0%), multicultural conflicts (54.1%), and gender conflicts between men and women (46.6%).
The survey was conducted through interviews with 3,950 men and women aged 19 to 75 from June to August 2023.
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