The deaths of two former presidents were picked as the news items of the year in a survey by a conservative civic group Wednesday.
According to the Citizens United for Better Society's research on 270 people, 62.6 percent picked the deaths of former President Roh Moo-hyun, who jumped to his death on May 23, and Kim Dae-jung, who died of old age on Aug. 18, as the most shocking.
Also selected lower on the list were the outbreak of influenza A (H1N1); the controversy over the Sejong City plan to relocate some government ministries out of Seoul; the four-river restoration project; lawmakers' clash over media law revision; figure skater Kim Yu-na's consecutive victories in world contests; the Ssangyong Motor unionists' strike; the Korea-EU free trade agreement; the death of Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan; and the "brutal" crackdown on those who refused to move out of Yongsan which is scheduled for redevelopment.
The respondents said the thing they least want to see was lawmakers fighting in the National Assembly again in 2010. They said irregularities of high-ranking officials and labor union strikes were also giving them headaches.
In the New Year, they hoped for economic recovery.
The respondents were asked to pick up to five answers.