86% Say Lee Will Manage the Nation Well

In a question on the leadership of President-elect Lee Myung-bak, who is scheduled to be sworn in on February 25, more than eight out of 10 Koreans (86%) turned out to have high expectations of his leadership.

Also, more than seven out of 10 Koreans (71.1%) answered that they think they will have a better life next year.

At the request of the Dong-A Ilbo, the Korea Research Center conducted a survey of 2,000 Koreans on December 26 and 27. In a survey titled “The 60th Anniversary of Korea– The New Year,” 61.8% answered that people’s disappointment about the incumbent government was the key to the Grand National Party’s (GNP) victory in the Dec. 19 presidential election, far exceeding the 35.1% of respondents who answered that the GNP’s victory was due to the people’s expectations about President-elect Lee Myung-bak.

Asked what challenge the next government should deal with, the largest share of respondents (26.7%) answered education reform. It was followed by market deregulation (17.3%), real estate policy (16.9%), government downsizing (13.3%), ease of polarization (9.9%), improvement of the government’s North Korea policy (7.1%), and establishment of law and order (3.6%).

The share of respondents for the president-elect’s promise over the ‘Grand Canal project’ was 48.7%, 8.9% points larger than those against the project (39.8%).

In a question about which power structure is suited for Korea, 41.0% chose a ‘five-year single-term presidency,’ followed by a four-year two-term presidency (39.6%), dual executive system (8.8%), and parliamentary government (6.4%).

When asked, “Which party’s candidate will you vote for in the general election in April?” 54.1% chose the GNP and 10.6% answered the United New Democratic Party. They were followed by the Create Korea Party (6.4%), Democratic Labor Party (4.7%), the new party about to be established by former GNP Chairman Lee Hoi-chang and the People First Party (4.3%), and the Democratic Party (1.9%).

In a question whether they would support Lee Hoi-chang’s initiative to create a new party, 61.7% answered “No,” and 26.7% answered “Yes.”

When asked “Who has made the biggest achievement in Korea’s 60-year history?” 71.3% chose former President Park Chung-hui. The late president was followed by former President Kim Dae-jung (8.1%), Kim Koo, the late president of the interim government during the Japanese colonial rule (2.6%), Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung (1.6%), and incumbent President Roh Moo-hyun (1.5%).

swpark@donga.com