By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
South Koreans perceive China, not the United States, will have the most significant influence on its politics and economy in the next two decades, an opinion survey says.
The latest Korea Times-Hankook Ilbo poll of 1,000 citizens, conducted Wednesday, showed that 50.2 percent of respondents picked China as the country that will exert the biggest impact on the country.
The United States came second with 39.8 percent, followed by Japan with 6.7 percent.
The trend is seen to be associated with two factors: Koreans' positive projection of the impact of the ongoing Beijing Olympics on China; and the double-digit economic growth China has achieved over the past decade.
Another recent survey finds 82 percent of Koreans answering that China will be better positioned in the global economy after the Beijing Olympics.
China has been the largest trade partner for South Korea since 2002, replacing the United States. Economists expect the trend to continue.
Given the significance of China in the global economic and political landscape, Park Byung-seok, a senior researcher at the Korea Society Opinion Institute, said that policymakers should find ways of expanding political, economic, security and diplomatic ties with China in the future.
Despite the rise of China, some experts say the nature of South Korea's relations with the country differ from those with the United States and therefore the government should pay more attention to bolstering the Korea-U.S. alliance.
These experts claim that the relationship with the United States has gone beyond the level that South Korea has with China.
The Korea Times poll also finds that 25.9 percent of Koreans believe businesses played the largest role in making Korea what it is today since Korea's liberation from Japan's colonial yoke in 1945.
About 11.8 percent see labor unions and 11.4 percent civic groups as major players that helped the country achieve socio-economic growth.
While 65.2 percent said President Lee Myung-bak has not managed the economy well, 29 percent answered he has done a good job as the president.
More respondents perceive that Lee dismissed KBS President Jung Yun-joo to control the media, while 32.3 percent answer the expulsion was an unavoidable measure to put the KBS on the right track.
Some 30.8 percent described themselves as conservatives, whereas 23 percent said they are liberals.
About 42.7 percent claim a President should be allowed to seek reelection through the revision of the Constitution, compared with the 35.4 percent who support the current single-term presidency.
And 73.8 percent said reunification should be sought gradually, compared with 13.7 percent who urged the government to facilitate the reunification.
The opinion survey was conducted to keep track of the trends in public opinion on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the government on August 15, 1948. It has a margin of error of plus and minus 3.1 percentage points.