Asan Poll

ASAN POLL- The Asan Institute for Policy Studies

THE ASAN PUBLIC OPINION BRIEF

Public Opinion on Social Division
SOURCE OF SOCIAL CONFLICT : YOUNGNAM-HONAM/METROPOLITAN-PROVINCE
July 16-18
On a scale of 0 to 10, how do you perceive the intensity of the divide [a) between residents of the Youngnam and residents of Honam, b) between residents in the Seoul metropolitan area and residents in the provinces]?
(0: Not Strong; 5: Normal; 10: Very strong, %)


On a scale of 0 to 10, how do you perceive the intensity of the divide [a) between residents of the Youngnam and residents of Honam, b) between residents in the Seoul metropolitan area and residents in the provinces]?

Koreans perceived regional conflict to be less severe compared to other sources of social tension. However, how does perception about regional tension vary by region?
  Youngnam-Honam Seoul and the Youngnam area showed the most contrast in perception of the Youngnam-Honam divide: 56.7% of respondents residing in Seoul perceived a strong conflict, around 20pp more than respondents residing in Youngnam (36.4%). Other regions were, in descending order, Honam (48.9%), Gangwon-Jeju (46.4%) and Chungcheong (39.0%).
  Analysis of average scores also shows a statistically significant difference between Seoul respondents (7.36) and Youngnam respondents (6.11). Other differences in mean scores were not statistically significant.

Metropolitan-province : An emerging division being discussed is between the Seoul metropolitan area and the provinces.
 While 43.1% of Seoul respondents and 47.0% of respondents in other provinces deemed this a “strong” conflict.

METHODOLOGY

  • The sample size of each survey was 1,000 respondents over the age of 19.
  • The surveys were conducted by Research & Research, and the margin of error is ±3.1% at the 95% confidence level.
  • All surveys employed the Random Digit Dialing method for mobile and landline telephones.

3-day rolling average?
The sample size of each survey was 1,000 respondents over the age of 19. The surveys were conducte d by Research & Research, and the margin of error is ±3.1% at the 95% confidence level. All surveys employed the Random Digit Dialing method for mobile and landline telephones.

This brief is a product of the Public Opinion Studies Center at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.


Contact Karl Friedhoff at klf@asaninst.org.

About Experts

Kim Jiyoon
Kim Jiyoon

Research Division

Dr. KIM Jiyoon is a senior fellow in the Public Opinion Studies Program at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Previously, Dr. Kim was a postdoctoral research fellow at Université de Montréal. Her research interests include elections and voting behavior, American politics, and political methodology. Her recent publications include “Political judgment, perceptions of facts, and partisan effects” (Electoral Studies, 2010), “Public spending, public deficits, and government coalition” (Political Studies, 2010), and “The Party System in Korea and Identity Politics” (in Larry Diamond and Shin Giwook Eds., New Challenges for Maturing Democracies in Korea and Taiwan, Stanford University Press, 2014). She received her B.A. from Yonsei University, M.P.P. in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Karl Friedhoff
Karl Friedhoff

Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Karl Friedhoff is a fellow in public opinion and Asia policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. He was previously a Korea Foundation-Mansfield Foundation US-Korea Nexus Scholar and a member of the Mansfield Foundation’s Trilateral Working Group. Friedhoff was previously based in Seoul where he was a program officer in the Public Opinion Studies Program at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. His writing has appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among others, and he has been a frequent guest on both TV and radio to discuss US foreign policy in Asia, South Korea’s politics, and international relations in East Asia. Friedhoff earned his BA in political science at Wittenberg University and an MA in international commerce at Seoul National University.