"7 out of 10 Citizens Respond 'President Should Communicate Directly to Secure Vaccines During US Visit'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Seven out of ten Koreans expect President Moon Jae-in, who is scheduled to visit the United States next month, to personally take action to ensure smooth domestic vaccine supply. In terms of the economy, more than 40% responded that Korea should secure economic benefits amid the US-China conflict.

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) announced the results of a perception survey titled 'Expectations of the Public for the Korea-US Summit,' conducted on 1,004 adult men and women nationwide from the 21st to the 22nd. According to the survey, 31.2% of respondents cited 'vaccine swap' as the most important achievement Korea should gain from this Korea-US summit. This was higher than responses for Korea-Japan issues (21.1%), economy (18.6%), North Korea issues (14.8%), and alliance strengthening (14.2%).

(Data provided by the Federation of Korean Industries)

Regarding activities President Moon should prioritize besides the summit during this US visit, 71.7% of respondents answered that he should 'directly communicate with US private companies for vaccine supply.' Responses for 'participating in campaigns against anti-Asian hate in the US' and 'visiting and encouraging Korean War veterans whose numbers are decreasing' were 13.4% and 11.5%, respectively, while 3.4% chose 'encouraging Korean residents in the US.'

Regarding prospects for Korea-US relations under the Joe Biden administration, 37.3% responded that 'there will be no change' compared to the previous Donald Trump administration, slightly ahead of 35.9% who said it would 'improve.' Meanwhile, 26.8% believed Korea-US relations would worsen.

Regarding Korea's foreign strategy, a large proportion of respondents believed Korea should actively participate in US regional leadership. The highest response rate, 44.3%, supported actively joining US regional leadership efforts alongside Japan and Australia, followed by 37.7% who favored 'maintaining strategic ambiguity considering US-China relations,' and 9.9% who supported 'maintaining an appropriate distance from the US and expanding a pro-China position.'

Regarding economic priorities between Korea and the US, the most common response at 41.7% was to 'utilize the opportunity to review supply chains of key US components such as semiconductors and batteries amid US-China conflicts and secure economic benefits.' This was followed by 'establishing a 5G advanced technology alliance among technologically advanced democracies sharing democratic values' (26.3%), 'abolishing Trump's trade restrictions and restoring damages to Korean companies' (16.3%), and 'securing opportunities for Korean companies through Biden's Indo-Pacific infrastructure strengthening policy' (15.7%).

Regarding responses to Korea-Japan relations, about half of respondents believed that direct or indirect government efforts to improve relations are necessary. Direct efforts to restore Korea-Japan relations were supported by 34.3%, while 15.1% favored indirect efforts through multilateral relations such as participation in the anti-China security consultation group Quad, totaling 49.4% calling for efforts to improve relations. Conversely, 40.5% believed that resolving current issues between Korea and Japan should precede relationship improvement, and 5.1% thought relationship improvement was unnecessary, totaling 45.6%, a similar level.

Regarding the direction of resuming North Korea-US dialogue, the largest proportion at 43.6% supported 'resuming dialogue after North Korea makes substantial progress on denuclearization.' This was followed by 'US easing of economic sanctions on North Korea and resuming dialogue' (23.1%) and 'resuming North Korea-US dialogue first' (20.8%).

Kim Bong-man, Director of International Cooperation at FKI, said, "This first Korea-US summit is very important as it sets the overall framework for relations with the Biden administration," adding, "Korea must not be excluded from the global economic agenda led by the Biden administration, including the Asia-Pacific order being shaped since the Biden administration's inauguration, the democratic technology alliance, and the review of key US component supply chains, to secure economic benefits."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.