"Culture is Advanced, Politics and Economy are Insufficient... Marriage is Not Essential"

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Announces Results of '2022 Survey on Korean People's Awareness and Values'
96.6% Responded "Excellent" for Popular Culture, Only 17.6% Say "Marriage is Essential"
Top Preceding Issues Identified as Jobs, Income Gap, Real Estate and Housing in Order

About 66% of South Korean citizens consider their own culture to be at an advanced country level. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 19th, the response that Korean culture is "already at an advanced country level" accounted for 65.9% in the "2022 Survey on the Consciousness and Values of Koreans." In particular, 96.6% responded that popular culture is "excellent," marking a 43 percentage point increase compared to the 2008 survey. The response that traditional culture is "excellent" also reached 95.1%. Pride in being Korean was high, with 89.8% saying "I am proud to be Korean," 90.4% saying "Our country is a good place to live," and 85% saying "I am proud of our country's history." The survey was conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism through the Korea Gallup Survey Institute from July 13 to August 24, targeting 5,100 adult men and women nationwide over about a month.

Opinions on the economy were quite different. 61.1% responded that it is "somewhat lacking compared to advanced countries." Regarding politics, 56.4% answered that it "falls far short of the level of advanced countries." When asked about their household economic status, 57.6% responded "lower than middle class," while only 36.1% said "middle class." The top issues that the public believes society must prioritize solving were jobs (29%), wealth gap (20%), real estate/housing (18.8%), and low birthrate/aging population (17.4%). 88.6% of the public viewed economic polarization as "serious," and 43.4% chose "economically wealthy country" as the future Korea they hope for.

Regarding lifestyle, 43.1% of the public considered "current happiness more important than the future." This perception increased with age. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism explained, "The 'YOLO' phenomenon, which emphasizes current happiness, was confirmed across all generations." 65% of the public generally felt "happy," and 63.1% responded that they are "generally satisfied with their current life." However, only 38.9% expressed satisfaction with their "income and assets."

Only 17.6% of the public perceived marriage as essential. This has shown a continuous decline since 1996 (36.7%). The most important factor when choosing a spouse has been "personality" from the first survey to this year. Regarding whether premarital chastity should be maintained and whether divorce is unacceptable, 57.6% and 56.3% respectively answered "No." The opinion that "cohabitation (common-law marriage) should also be recognized as a form of marriage" was 67.3%, showing a strong tendency to value individual freedom and rights. When asked whether adult children should be financially independent from their parents, 80.9% answered "Yes."

In response to questions about the balance between work and leisure, 32.2% said they place more emphasis on leisure, slightly higher than the 30.9% who emphasized work. Three years ago, the former was 48.4% and the latter 17.1%. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism explained, "This shows an increased self-determination regarding work-life balance (WLB)." Groups with severe conflicts were surveyed as "progressives and conservatives (89.5%)," "regular and irregular workers (78.8%)," and "wealthy and ordinary people (76.6%)."

Regarding North Korea, the rate of unfavorable responses increased. Cooperation target (34.1%), hostile target (26.5%), and cautious target (17.9%) were the most common answers. Regarding the timing of unification, 53.3% said "there is no need to rush," and 36.6% said "there is no need to unify at all," while only 10.1% said "it should be done quickly."

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