The Republic of South Korea’s Global Image — Survey Results

The Republic of Korea, well-known as South Korea, is an East Asian nation that sits on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It shares its border with the heavily militarized North Korea. South Korea is popular for many of its beautiful natural spots.

For instance, its green, hilly countrysides, its shiny coastal areas, and islands, as well as its traditional attractions. The country is also filled with centuries-old Buddhist temples. Besides, the country gets global recognition for its very popular k-pop bands and highly attention-grabbing kdramas.

Accordingly, Real Research held a survey to gauge the Republic of Korea’s global image. With this survey, we gained insight into the South Korea international image. To understand the national image, we asked questions like how safe is South Korea, how traditional is South Korea? Also, have people visited before? Will they visit again? What is their favorite activity upon visiting? Here are the results.

Highlights

• 41.98% have already visited South Korea
• The majority wishes to visit South Korea for sightseeing
• Most governments have an extremely amicable relationship with South Korea

Many Respondents Have Already Visited South Korea

To start off, Real Research found that 41.98% of the respondents have already visited South Korea. For those who haven’t visited the country before, 37.50% say they do not plan on even visiting South Korea.

To follow through, the reasons for not wanting to visit South Korea in the future is mostly because respondents do not like traveling abroad (25.70%). Likewise, 6.69% are afraid that a war may break out, while 13.39% say financial reasons. In contrast, those hoping to visit South Korea in the future also picked their reasons.

Taking the lead is respondents being excited about catching a lot of sightseeing spots (32.81%). Other answers vary from low cost (7.27%), convenient stop on the way to Japan or China (2.35%), and k-pop interest (2.66%). Similarly, interest in South Korean food (2.18%), business opportunities (2.46%), and wanting to experience South Korean culture (3.49%).

Respondents Hold an Extremely Positive View of South Korea

Next, the survey asked what activity respondents would prefer to partake in upon visiting South Korea. On this, 28.34% chose to try out traditional Korean clothes (Hanbok). 9.05% chose to visit historic sites and 2.97% chose to indulge in k-pop related activities.

Meanwhile, 7.94% said to try out traditional Korean food like Kimchi. In contrast, 3.17% said to try contemporary Korean food like chi-maek. A few (4.61%) chose shopping and the rest picked ‘Others’.

Overall Respondents Feel South Korea Has a Lot to Offer

Finally, Real Research asked respondents a series of questions centering on a specific characteristic. On this, they chose on what scale they viewed South Korea in that context.

Firstly we asked how ‘traditional’ is South Korea? Results say ‘very much so’ (32.25%), ‘somewhat so’ (8.64%), and ‘neutral’ (26.69%). In contrast, 1.54% said ‘not so much’ and 0.93% chose ‘not at all’. The rest are unsure. 

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Secondly, we asked how ‘conservative’ is South Korea? Results say ‘very much so’ (31.47%), ‘somewhat so’ (7.84%), and ‘neutral’ (27.97%). In contrast, 1.54% said ‘not so much’ and 1.16% chose ‘not at all’. The rest are unsure. 

Thirdly, we asked how ‘safe’ is South Korea? Results say ‘very much so’ (31.88%), ‘somewhat so’ (8.27%), and ‘neutral’ (27.28%). In contrast, 2.09% said ‘not so much’ and 1.21% chose ‘not at all’. The rest are unsure.

Fourthly, we asked how ‘inclusive’ is South Korea? Results say ‘very much so’ (30.94%), ‘somewhat so’ (7.92%), and ‘neutral’ (28.45%). In contrast, 1.54% said ‘not so much’ and 1.09% chose ‘not at all’. The rest are unsure. 

In the fifth spot, we asked how ‘dangerous’ is South Korea? Results say ‘very much so’ (28.96%), ‘somewhat so’ (6.17%), and ‘neutral’ (28.09%). In contrast, 4.03% said ‘not so much’ and 2.80% chose ‘not at all’. The rest are unsure. 

In the sixth spot, we asked how ‘convenient’ is South Korea? Results say ‘very much so’ (30.91%), ‘somewhat so’ (8.16%), and ‘neutral’ (28.22%). In contrast, 1.64% said ‘not so much’ and 1.23% chose ‘not at all’. The rest are unsure. 

In the seventh spot, we asked how ‘clean’ is South Korea? Results say ‘very much so’ (33.85%), ‘somewhat so’ (8.01%), and ‘neutral’ (26.73%). In contrast, 1.18% said ‘not so much’ and 1.08% chose ‘not at all’. The rest are unsure.

In the eighth spot, we asked how ‘young’ is South Korea? Results say ‘very much so’ (31.37%), ‘somewhat so’ (7.83%), and ‘neutral’ (27.84%). In contrast, 1.65% said ‘not so much’ and 1.11% chose ‘not at all’. The rest are unsure. 

Next, we asked how ‘dynamic’ is South Korea? Results say ‘very much so’ (32.33%), ‘somewhat so’ (7.91%), and ‘neutral’ (27.50%). In contrast, 1.26% said ‘not so much’ and 1.07% chose ‘not at all’. The rest are unsure. 

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Lastly, we asked how ‘vibrant’ is South Korea? Results say ‘very much so’ (31.99%), ‘somewhat so’ (8.00%), and ‘neutral’ (27.58%). In contrast, 1.40% said ‘not so much’ and 1.08% chose ‘not at all’. The rest are unsure.  Finally, we asked how ‘eco-friendly’ is South Korea? Results say ‘very much so’ (32.43%), ‘somewhat so’ (7.98%), and ‘neutral’ (27.41%). In contrast, 1.61% said ‘not so much’ and 1.16% chose ‘not at all’. The rest are unsure.