Opinion Survey Report and Analysis
by William Watts
President, Potomac Associates

April 2002

IV. The Survey: Responses, Discussion, and Analysis

Questionnaire responses are clustered into thematic groupings. After a number of questions, we asked "Why do you feel this way?," or its equivalent. Some of the more revealing statements are noted.

A. Overview: Comparative Korean Views of Japan, China, Russia, and the U.S.

One segment of our survey sought assessments of attitudes toward Japan, China, Russia, and the United States. Several questions were the same for each of the four countries involved. For purposes of clarity, we address these comparative responses first, and then look at country-specific questions.

1. Positive-Negative Feelings
"At a personal level, how would you describe your feelings about [country]?"

a. United States. Given the extraordinarily close links between the United States and Korea, and the ubiquitous American presence in Seoul and elsewhere around the country, the "warmth" ratings our respondents gave the U.S. come as a bit of a warning. They are not bad - 59% are in the positive column, with the business community strongest in the "very positive" ranking - but these numbers also reflect a considerable degree of reserve. Four respondents in ten are either neutral or "somewhat negative." That proportion is considerably higher among politicians and NGOs.

This is far from a ringing, across-the-board endorsement. We will return below to some of the specific reasons given for this phenomenon.

b. Japan. The clouds of history hang heavily over Korean perceptions of Japan, as our survey makes clear. Personal feelings toward Japan followed a classic bell curve, with a bare majority opting for a neutral "neither positive nor negative." Those on the positive and negative sides split fairly evenly, although nobody expressed "very positive" views. Media representatives were a bit more positive than the norm.

c. China. With 53% of our sample viewing China positively, it ranks second only to the United States, trailing by just 6 percentage points. None of the respondents held "very negative" feelings about China, while a substantial segment held a neutral, open-minded position. Depending on the course of future events, the views of that large uncommitted group could move in either direction. As we shall see below, many hope that greater warmth will prevail.

d. Russia. Russia draws the largest bloc saying "neither positive nor negative," perhaps indicating a sense that Russia isn't all that important in the thinking of most of our respondents. Those taking one side or the other fall a bit more on the negative side. In general terms, politicians are the most favorably inclined toward Russia, while business people and NGO figures are most critical. It is worth noting that the academics were unanimous in their neutrality.

2. Levels of Trust
"And how much do you trust [country]?"