S.Koreans view society and government as corrupt, study shows

Posted on : 2011-12-10 11:22 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Experts say this could be the result of recent allegations against presidential associates and prosecutors

By Kim Kyu-won, Staff Writer

A study shows 65.4% of South Koreans view South Korean society as "corrupt" and 56.7% view public officials as "corrupt."
The Anti-Corruption and Human Rights Commission announced these findings Friday from a study on corruption perceptions and experiences for 2011. The study, which took place between October 26 and November 24, examined a total of 4,530 ordinary citizens, public servants, entrepreneurs, experts, and foreigners.
According to the results, a total of 65.4% of this year's respondents rated South Korean society as corrupt. This marks a sharp increase from steady drop down rate in the past. During the Lee Myung-bak administration, ratings went from 59.1% in 2008, 56.6% in 2009, to 51.6% in 2010.
Citizen perceptions of public officials as corrupt also rose this year to 56.7% from 54.1% in 2010. The 2008 and 2009 ratings were 57.1% and 56.6%, respectively.
Analysts said this survey was likely impacted by surfacing of allegations of recent improprieties by presidential associates and prosecutors.
The political world, including political parties and the National Assembly, ranked first by an overwhelming margin, as among areas that desperately need measures to address corruption.
The political world was listed as the most corrupt area by all participating groups, with a 54.2% rating from ordinary citizens, 61.0% from public servants, 63.3% from entrepreneurs, and 81.9% from experts.
Other areas of concern include: the executive, judiciary, public enterprises, the media, education, and religion, in that order.
The area of culture, the arts, and athletics was given as the least corrupt, followed by labor groups, civic groups, and private enterprise.
The study results had a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of ±2.62 to ±4.9 percentage points.

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