Almost half of the country considers itself politically moderate, according to a survey of 1,000 adult men and women performed by the Korean Social Science Data Center (KSDC) May 7-8 on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of the Hankyoreh. The same survey was done in 2002 and 2004.
When asked how people feel about their political tendencies, 36.2 percent said "conservative," 16.4 percent said "progressive," and 47.7 identified themselves as "moderates." The percentage of people who identified themselves as moderate was 30.4 percent in 2002 and 37.8 percent in 2004, an increase of 17 points in a period of four years. During that time there was a decrease in the percentage of people who consider themselves conservative, from 43.8 percent in 2002, 38.7 percent in 2004, and, according to this latest survey, 36.2 percent in 2006. Fewer people identify themselves as progressives as well: 25.8 percent in 2002, 23.5 percent in 2004, and 16.4 percent in this latest 2006 survey.
Discussing the reason fewer people identify themselves as either conservative or progressive, Kim Hyeong-jun of the Korean Social Science Data Center suggested the public feels "fatigued by the ideological conflicts of 'conservative versus
progressive.’ "
When it came to the consistency of views, only 27.2 percent of those who responded that they were "progressive" were "consistently progressive" in all question areas, while "consistent conservatives" accounted for a similarly low 22.5 percent of those who were conservative overall. Overall, 50.3 percent of respondents were conservative about some subjects while progressive about others.
The survey had a plus-or-minus 3.1 percent margin of error.
