The main culprits : Politics and sexual crime.
A recent survey shows that six out of ten female respondents answered that "If I had been given the opportunity to be born again, I would choose a different country."
DOOIT Survey, a pollster based in Korea, conducted a survey between February 5 and 12. According to survey results revealed on February 26, 60.6% of females in this survey of 5,014 users of DOOIT web site and mobile application said “If I were given the chance to be born again in Korea, I would choose not to.” Meanwhile, the rest(39.4%) said “I would still choose Korea.”
Following is the list of reasons that female respondents said they don’t want to be born again in Korea: ‘Excessive competition(16.4%)’ followed by ‘Intense competition for university entrance exam(13.2%),' 'Academic certificates (11.3%),’ 'Lookism and the issue of plastic surgery (9.7%),‘ 'Empty formalities (9.5%),’ 'Self-consciousness (9.1%),‘ 'High housing prices(9%),’ and 'Corporate get-together (3.9%).'
Among those who answered “I would choose a different country,” those in their 20s ranked first, followed by those in their 30’s (58.9%), minors (56.8%), those in their 40’s (50.3%), and those above 50 (43.6%).
Following is the list of reasons that both males and females answered “I would still choose Korea” : ‘Jeong or a feeling of affection or attachment (47.4%),’ followed by ‘Four distinct seasons (33%),’ ‘Traditional Korean food (21.3%),’ ‘Outstanding infrastructure including education, public health care, and transportation system (21.3%),’ ‘Public order and security (19.4%),’ ‘Diligence (16.6%),’ and ‘Desire for unification of the Korean peninsula.’
Also, both male and female respondents considered ‘Politics (Overall: 53.8%, women: 22.6%)’ and ‘Sexual crime (Overall: 41.8%, women: 21.2%)’ as concerns that point to a bleak future for Korea. Other issues include ‘Emphasis on regionalism, school relations, and kinship (17.2%),’ 'The divided Korean peninsula (14.9%),‘ 'Ideological war(8.7%),’ 'Hierarchy in society(7.7%),' and 'Gender equality (7.7%).'
As for a question “Is Korea a fair society,” a total of 70.5% said ‘No, it is not.’ (43.9% of ‘No’ and 26.6% of ‘Absolutely not.’) On the other hand, while 24% said ‘Not sure,’ a mere 5.5% said ‘Yes, Korea is a fair society.' (4% of ’Yes,‘ and 1.5% of ’I strongly believe so.‘)
By gender, more women answered “Korea is not a fair society” than men. While it was 73.1% for women (47.7% of ‘No’ and 25.4% of ‘Absolutely not’), it was 65.3% for men.
As for the issue of polarization, a total of 70.4% said ‘It is a serious problem.’ (40.3% of ‘Yes’ and 30.1% of ‘I strongly believe so.’) On the other hand, while 25.5% said ‘Not sure,’ a mere 4.1% said ‘No, it is not a serious issue.’ (3.2% of ‘No’ and 0.9% of ‘Absolutely not.’)
By gender, more men believed “The issue of polarization is a serious problem in Korea” than women. While it was 68% for women (including those who answered ‘Very serious’), it was 75.1% for men.
As for a question “What are you most proud of about Korea,” ‘Hangeul or the Korean alphabet’ came first with 59.4%, followed by 'IT (39.5%),‘ 'Sports(Archery, Kim Yuna, Park Taehwan, Park Jisung, etc) (34.4%),’ 'Korean food (29%),‘ 'Hallyu or the Korean Wave (27%),’ 'Big conglomerates (Samsung, Hyundai Motor, etc ) (17.3%),‘ and 'Miracle on the Han River(14%).’
This survey has a 95% confidence level and a sampling error of ±1.38p.
