K-pop and hallyu top pride list, politics ranks lowest, survey says

A scene from Netflix show "KPop Demon Hunters" / Courtesy of Netflix

As South Korea marks the 80th anniversary of its liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule, a new survey shows that K-pop and traditional culture are the sources of greatest national pride — while politics ranks lowest.

In a poll conducted by Korea Research at the request of the Hankook Ilbo, 93 percent of respondents said they were most proud of hallyu or the Korean wave, including K-pop, followed by 90 percent who cited Korea’s traditional heritage.

The findings suggest that many Koreans see culture as the country’s strongest global asset, especially given the worldwide success of BTS, the Oscar-winning film “Parasite,” the hit Netflix series “Squid Game” and Han Kang’s Nobel Prize in Literature, emblematic examples.

Public confidence also ran high in Korea’s medical system and science and technology, with 88 percent citing pride in each.

About 84 percent of respondents said they were proud of the country’s sports achievements and public safety. National economic success (75 percent), premodern history (71 percent) and modern history since 1945 (70 percent) also ranked well.

However, politics was a stark outlier. Only 18 percent of those surveyed said they were proud of the nation’s political system, the lowest among 12 categories.

When asked which area they were least proud of, 82 percent chose politics. By contrast, only 7 percent gave that answer for K-pop and related cultural content.

The low marks for politics appear to be closely tied to public concerns over social division. An overwhelming 87 percent of respondents said the most serious conflicts in Korean society were between the ruling and opposition parties, and between progressive and conservative camps. This sentiment was consistent across all ages, genders and regional groups.

Other notable perceived divides included economic inequality between the rich and poor (73 percent) and generational tensions between older and younger people (65 percent), although these were considered less severe than political partisan strife.

Overall, 73 percent of respondents said that Korean society suffers from deep-rooted conflict. One striking generational contrast emerged in views on gender conflict.

Among those aged 18 to 29, 83 percent of women and 77 percent of men described gender conflict as “serious,” compared to just 38 percent of women and 41 percent of men aged 70 and older.

The data indicates that younger Koreans are far more attuned to gender tensions, while older generations are more dismissive of them.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.