Nearly 9 out of 10 Koreans distrust politicians: poll

Nearly nine out of 10 South Koreans distrust domestic politics and politicians, a poll showed Sunday, illustrating a growing sense of crisis among rival political parties.

According to a poll of 1,018 adults and 730 youths by the Office of the Minister of Special Affairs, 87.1 percent of adults and 85.6 percent of adolescents said they "do not have confidence in politics and politicians."

The poll of South Koreans' value systems also showed people in their 40s are most skeptical about politics, with 91.6 percent of those in that age group expressing distrust toward politicians. About 91 percent of respondents in their 30s expressed a lack of confidence while 87.6 percent of those aged 50-59 were skeptical about the political system.

Younger members of society in the 10-29 age group had relatively mild distrust, with about 85 percent of them expressing skepticism toward politics. Most senior citizens over 60 were the least skeptical, with just under 80 percent expressing a lack of confidence.

In terms of the country's unification policy and its relations with North Korea, younger people were less accommodative than their elder peers, the poll also showed.

As for the country's planned adoption of a unification tax, which politicians say will finance the country's reunification with the North in the future, 45.8 percent of adult respondents said they do not agree with the tax, while a higher rate of underage respondents, 69.4 percent, expressed their disagreement, according to the poll.

Little more than half of youth also expressed skepticism toward the country's economic cooperation with the communist North while only 41.7 percent of adults disagreed with the two Koreas' economic ties, the poll also showed.

The generational mental gap was also remarkable in their stances on industrial conglomerates. For the majority of adults, business conglomerates conjure up the idea of job creation while the majority of adolescent respondents linked them to the passing down of wealth, the poll showed. (Yonhap)