Date

March 5, 2014

Page

1

Contact

Ms. Kahye Oh

Office

02-3701-7377

E-mail

communications@asaninst.org

* For Immediate Release

Asan Public Opinion Survey:

South Korean Views on

Leaders, Countries, and Relationships in the Region

From March 1-3, 2014 the Asan Institute for Policy Studies conducted a public opinion survey on the favorability of countries in the region, perceptions of relations between countries, and the favorability of selected leaders.

For the first time since this survey was originally conducted, Prime Minister Abe (1.1) was viewed less favorably than Kim Jong-un (1.3) on a zero to ten scale. While 61.0% cited “zero” favorability for Mr. Abe, 57.9% stated the same for Kim Jong-un. In January, the favorability of both leaders was 1.0. In September 2013, the first time this question was asked, Mr. Abe (1.7) received significantly higher marks than Kim Jong-un (1.1).

For the second consecutive month, Japan (2.3) was seen as less favorable than North Korea (2.7). For both countries, this marked a 0.1 increase from the results of February. However, North Korea’s favorability has been on the rise since January, when its favorability was 2.1. Progress on family reunions is the likely driver.

The United States continues to be the country seen most favorably, with a score of 5.8. China’s favorability (4.8) remained unchanged from February, but is up from its mark of 4.4 in December 2013.

The Korea-U.S. relationship continues to be seen as highly cooperative, with 82.2% stating as such. This was a slight increase from 79.3% in February, but an increase from a low of 74.4% in December 2013. As for the Korea-China relationship, it is increasingly seen as cooperative. While 51.1% saw it as cooperative in December 2013, 59.1% now see it in that manner.

The sample size of each survey was 1,000 people over the age of 19. The margin of error was ±3.1% at the 95% confidence level. The survey employed RDD for landline and mobile telephones.