Date

May 15, 2014

Page

1

Contact

Ms. Heesun Kim

Office

02-3701-7387

E-mail

communications@asaninst.org

* For Immediate Release

Asan Public Opinion Survey:

93 percent S. Korean Find Corruption to be a Serious Problem

From May 10-12, 2014 the Asan Institute for Policy Studies conducted a public opinion survey on attitudes toward corruption in Korea.

Corruption in Korean society was cited as a serious problem by 93.4%.

A plurality (47.5%) stated that corruption was now a more serious problem than it was a decade ago.

A majority (59.5%) was optimistic that the seriousness of corruption would decline in the coming decade.

80.7% cited corruption in the public sector as serious. This was largely consistent across age cohorts and self-identified ideology.

76.9% cited corruption in the private sector as serious. This was largely consistent across age cohorts and self-identified ideology.

A clear plurality (40.8%) cited politics as being the most corrupt.

A plurality (40.9%) cited stronger punishment as the most important aspect of reducing corruption, while 23.4% stated that those in positions of power needed to lead by example. 22.7% cited the importance of increasing institutional transparency.

Weak punishment was cited by a plurality (26.1%) as the cause of ongoing corruption.

A majority (54.4%) opposed parachute appointments, where a public sector officials join the industry they were once charged with regulating.

The sample size of the 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.