"Social Conflicts More Severe Than Last Presidential Election... Wealth Gap Conflict at Its Peak"

Public Opinion Survey of the Daehan Guk-in Foundation under the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs

A survey conducted ahead of the 22nd National Assembly election revealed that voters perceive current social conflicts to be more severe than during the last presidential election.

The Korea Veterans Foundation under the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs commissioned the public opinion research firm Embrain Public to conduct a survey of 1,000 adult men and women from December 20 to 22 last year. The research team disclosed the results on the 6th and compared and analyzed them with surveys on the same topics conducted 18 months before the 20th presidential election, from December 7 to 11, 2020, and just before the election, from March 3 to 6, 2022.

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Respondents rated their agreement on a scale from 1 point for "strongly disagree" to 5 points for "strongly agree." The average score for the statement "social conflicts have become severe" was 4.26 this time. In December 2020, it was 3.98, and just before the last presidential election, it was 4.06. The average score for the statement "social conflicts will become severe" also rose from 3.93 in December 2020 and 3.94 just before the election to 4.19 this time.

Professor Jo Jeong-yeol of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Sookmyung Women’s University, who led the research, said, "In foreign studies, it is common for conflicts to subside after elections as each camp accepts the results," adding, "Korea’s case is exceptional."

In this survey, respondents considered wealth disparity as the most serious social conflict, scoring 4.16 points. It was followed by generational conflict (4.00 points), labor-management conflict (3.99 points), gender conflict (3.97 points), ideological conflict (3.94 points), regional conflict (3.74 points), and religious conflict (3.37 points).

Notably, generational conflict rose from 5th place (3.75 points) in December 2020 and 4th place (3.85 points) just before the presidential election to 2nd place in this survey.

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