By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
South Koreans' patriotism and national pride are on a steady decline, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said Friday.
According to a survey conducted by Gallup Korea in May, the average points foe scoring patriotism were 63.9 points out of 100, the ministry said in a press release.
In surveys in 2005 and 2006, the average points were 66.7 and 64, respectively, it said.
The telephone-interview survey of 1,015 people over 15 has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent at a 95 percent level of confidence. The survey was conducted on May 14-16.
The survey also showed that the average points of national pride marked 72.8, 4.5 down from 2005.
The average points on the willingness to participate in national efforts in the event of an emergency were 71.7, 4.6 down from 2006, in which the points from those in their 20s were the lowest at 63.4, it said.
``We will come up with measures to help encourage patriotism in the people, particularly the younger generation, by developing ways of promoting national patriots' activities and commemoration days for them,'' a ministry spokesman said.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr
