South Koreans Feel "66.5%" Happy

"How happy are you?"

South Koreans reportedly marked their happiness at 66.5 on the 100-point scale. More South Korean citizens have become more negative towards North Korea. For them, the economic development tops the priority.

Commissioned by the Samsung Economic Research Institute, Seoul National University`s Institute for Social Development and Policy Research conducted an opinion poll for three weeks in January. In the survey, 1,200 adult South Koreans participated. And the result was released yesterday.

On a scale marked from 100 points of "happiest" to 0 of "most miserable," an average Korean citizen feels that he or she is 66.5 points happy. The number is slightly higher than the one tallied in 1997, or 63.2 points.

More than 70% of the respondents considered health as the most important factor for happiness. Then, 11.1% cherished economic abundance, 6.5% good relationship with spouse, 5.2% religion, 2.8% stable job and 2.6% the success of their children.

When asked "What North Korea means to us?" 39.2% of the participants answered negatively. In detail, 7.8% answered that the regime was a hostile entity threatening our safety, and 31.4% deemed it as obstacle to South Korea`s development. Last time, or in 1996, only 25.5% showed their unfavorable feelings toward the regime. Specifically, 19.2% referred to the regime as the hostile entity, and 6.3% as the obstacle.

Especially, the number of people, who categorized the regime as obstacle, has shot up by almost five times for the past seven years. On the other hand, a less number of people, or 11.8%, endorsed South Korea`s assistance to North Korea. Previously, 22.3% of the respondents said the same.

Around 61 % of the people opposed South Korean economic aid to North if the northern regime did not abandon its nuclear ambition. Similarly, 54.2% of the respondents felt a threat from withdrawal of the US forces in South Korea. 41.8% of the people, however, thought that maintenance of good relationship with North Korea came before stationing on good terms with Washington. On the contrary, 27.2% of the participants cherished the US-ROK relationship more.

As to President Roh Moo-hyun, people liked his progressiveness. But they pointed out his lack of refinement as a problem. When the opinions were put into numbers, his progressiveness earned the highest mark of 37.5 points. In the meanwhile, his trustworthiness came second with 28.5 points, friendliness third with 27.6, stability fourth with 27.5, and harmonizing ability fifth with 23.8. His lack of refinement earned him the worst points of –1.8 points.

The majority of the respondents, or 71.6%, said that maintaining a high economic development rate came on top of the national agenda. Only 36.6% of the people answered the same in 1996.

Around 42% of the participants showed a negative attitude toward the United States, which almost doubled than two years ago. Especially, the negative trend is higher among young people in 20s (64.41%). 50.2% of college graduates said they did not like America. Ironically, 39% of the total respondents favored the United States as their most favorite country. For example, participants in 40s or more favored the Untied States most, followed by China, North Korea and Japan, while young people most favored Japan most. Then, China, North Korea and the United States in that order earned favor among young people.

Jin-Young Hwang buddy@donga.com