President Lee Jae-myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a commemorative photo during the Korea-China summit held at the Gyeongju National Museum in North Gyeongsang Province on November 1. Reporter Kim Chang-gil
A New Year and 80th-anniversary public opinion survey by Kyunghyang Shinmun found that favorability toward China stood at only 21%. More than half expressed concern that anti-China protests taking place domestically are serious, and half said anti-foreigner protests such as anti-China rallies should be regulated by law. Favorability toward the United States was 53%, but since the launch of the second Trump administration, responses characterizing the South Korea-U.S. alliance as an alliance favorable to the United States were predominant.
Commissioned by Kyunghyang Shinmun, Gallup Korea surveyed 1,010 adults aged 18 and older nationwide on the 26th and 27th regarding favorability toward China. Unfavorable responses were 72%, while favorable responses were 21%. The age group with the highest unfavorable rate was those aged 18 to 29 at 86%. Unfavorable views were also high among other ages: 81% in the 30s, 68% in the 40s, 67% in the 50s, 62% in the 60s, and 71% among those 70 and older.
Negative evaluations of anti-China protests in Korea were more common. In response to the question of how serious anti-China protests targeting China or Chinese people in Korea are, 52% answered serious. Only 38% said they are not serious.
By age, the gap between those in their 18 to 29 and 30s and the rest was large. Among respondents aged 18 to 29, 50% said the situation is not serious, and among those in their 30s the figure was 54%, both majorities. In contrast, the share saying the situation is serious was 55% in the 40s, 59% in the 50s, 52% in the 60s, and 65% among those 70 and older.
Regarding legally restricting protests that oppose foreigners, 50% said such measures are necessary, outnumbering those who said they are not necessary (42%). By age, the shares saying legal restrictions are not necessary were high among those 18 to 29 and those in their 30s at 57% and 58%, respectively. Conversely, the shares saying restrictions are necessary were 54% in the 40s, 64% in the 50s, 51% in the 60s, and 48% among those 70 and older. This appears to reflect youth antipathy toward China in this item as well.
Favorable views of the United States were 53%, while unfavorable views were 40%. By age, favorability toward the United States was high at 60% among those 18 to 29 and 63% among those in their 30s. Only among those in their 50s did unfavorable responses (47%) exceed favorable responses (43%) by 4 percentage points. By party support, among supporters of the Democratic Party of Korea, 37% expressed favorability toward the United States and 55% expressed unfavorable views. In contrast, among People Power Party supporters, favorability was 76% and unfavorable views 21%, showing the opposite pattern.
Regarding the South Korea-U.S. alliance after the launch of the second Trump administration, 62% of all respondents assessed the relationship as more favorable to the United States. A total of 25% said it is being operated on an equal footing between the two countries, and only 4% said it is more favorable to South Korea.
Nevertheless, a majority of respondents said the South Korea-U.S. alliance should be strengthened compared with the present (45%) or maintained at the current level (38%). Only 11% said it should be reduced compared with the present.
The margin of sampling error for this survey is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 10.1%. Mobile virtual numbers provided by the three mobile carriers were randomly sampled, and interviewers conducted telephone interviews. For details, refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission. 한글기사 원본(Original Korean Story)
