Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Over 65% of South Koreans say they prefer Biden over Trump as US president: poll
This combined picture shows Donald Trump, left, Republican presidential candidate and former president, speaking at a campaign rally in Las Vegas, June 9, and President Joe Biden speaking at the White House in Washington, June 4. More than 65 percent of South Koreans say they prefer Joe Biden over Donald Trump as the president of the United States, a survey showed on Tuesday. AP-Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
More than 65 percent of South Koreans say they prefer Joe Biden over Donald Trump as the president of the United States, a survey showed on Tuesday.
According to a poll conducted by the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, and the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun, 65.7 percent of South Korean respondents said President Biden’s victory in the forthcoming presidential election, scheduled for Nov. 5, would be more desirable.
Only 20.1 percent of them picked Trump, a GOP presidential candidate seeking to regain the White House after his loss in the previous election to Biden.
Asked the same question, 60 percent of Japanese respondents said they prefer Biden, while 23 percent picked Trump.
The results suggest their shared anxiety about Trump’s renewed isolationism, symbolized by his “America First” slogan, as citizens of the two U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific region.
This comes as more South Koreans believe geopolitical risks have been rising in recent years. Asked which countries out of the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and North Korea pose a military risk to South Korea (a question to which multiple choices were allowed), 80.1 percent picked North Korea, followed by China (61.4 percent), Russia (51.7 percent), Japan (29.7 percent) and the U.S. (13.6 percent).
In a survey conducted the previous year, 69.6 percent of South Koreans picked North Korea, while 42.5 percent selected Russia.