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From the beginning, South Korea presented itself as a model for COVID-19 containment. Does the public still approve of the government’s approach?
South Korea showed its first case of COVID-19 on Jan. 20 and has since been praised around the world for its reaction to the pandemic, which relies on extensive testing, lax medical treatments and complicated generation. The South Korean government has also used GIS generation and government-created apps to track the spread of the virus, helping the country stop the spread of the outbreak before cases get out of control. Cases peaked on March 3 with 803 daily cases, but fell to less than 100 a month later. . While South Korea experienced a moderate momentary wave in August, when daily cases ranged from 200 to 300, daily numbers have recently fallen to double digits.
However, not everyone is satisfied with the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Many fitness professionals went on strike to protest the government’s decision to hire more medical academics instead of increasing salaries. In addition, the South Korean government publicly announces positive results, which critics cite as a violation of individual privacy and an invitation to public harassment. Similarly, a recent survey among South Koreans found that 40% believe severe COVID restrictions are taking a toll on their intellectual fitness. Some groups, such as the arguable Sarang Jeil Church, blamed for thousands of COVID-19 cases in South Korea, have participated in anti-government demonstrations.
In April, South Korea conducted National Assembly elections, providing a clear example of how to conduct a safe election during a pandemic. The result was the highest turnout for legislative elections in nearly 30 years and a clear victory for President Moon Jae-in’s Democratic Party. Yet, survey results showed views on COVID-19 largely fell along partisan lines, with supporters of the Democratic Party largely viewing the government’s response in positive terms and supporters of the conservative United Future Party (recently rebranded as the People Power Party) overwhelmingly opposed.
Did this partisan lens endure beyond the election cycle?
To answer this question, we surveyed 1,200 South Koreans from September 9 to 18, through an online survey administered through Macromill Embrain, using quota sampling by region and gender. We asked each interviewee to rate the “I am happy with the attitude of the South Korean government. “reaction to the 2020 coronavirus outbreak” on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. During the research, the number of daily cases in South Korea remained fairly stable, from just over a hundred to about 180 consistent cases. with the day.
The figure below shows the summary results. A broad majority of respondents agreed (44.08 percent) or strongly agreed (19.75 percent) that they were satisfied with the government’s COVID-19 response. Less than one-fifth of respondents strongly disagreed (5.08 percent) or disagreed (11.50 percent) with the government’s handling of the outbreak.
Interestingly, we ran the same survey question in March 2020 and the results were very different – only about 44 percent of respondents supported the government’s response while approximately 36 percent viewed it negatively. This shift could be a result of changing views on the response, perhaps as Koreans see how other countries like the United States struggled to limit cases, or due to witnessing the global death toll surpass 1 million, or simply due to the end of an election cycle and partisan campaigning.
We then disaggregate knowledge across political parties to determine whether there is a partisan belief about South Korea’s reaction to the coronavirus, combining “strongly disagree” with “disagree” and “strongly disagree. ” ‘agree’ with ‘agree’ for simplicity. Although there is widespread opinion about the government’s reaction to COVID-19, the breakdown of knowledge across political parties shows continued variation. About four-fifths (82. 81%) of respondents from the Democratic Party, South Korea’s existing ruling party, criticized the government’s pandemic strategy. Similarly, the more progressive Justice Party enjoys a strong matrix: two-thirds (66. 67%) of respondents consider the government’s reaction to COVID-19 successful. Members of the conservative opposition United Future Party/People’s Power Party (37. 09%) and those with no party preference (45. 12%) were less likely to say the government would react to COVID-19, but were unlikely They would disapprove of him. Furthermore, government reactions were higher in all groups compared to March survey data: the Democratic Party grew by 10. 08 percent, the United Future Party grew by 28. 54 percent. The Justice Party grew by 10. 41 percent and those without political identity grew by 17. 2 percent.
Finally, we sought to compare how other people perceived the government’s reaction to COVID-19 compared to how they rated President Moon’s performance. Unsurprisingly, for Moon and the government, the government’s reaction to COVID-19 is reflected; 95. 05% of respondents who agree with the government’s pandemic policy also approve of Moon’s performance. Similarly, 64% of respondents who were unbiased about the government’s reaction to COVID-19 approved of Moon’s performance, while a majority (40. 24%) of those who disagreed with the reaction to the pandemic and also disapproved of Moon’s performance.
The findings here recommend that despite persistent partisan differences over the appropriateness of the government’s reaction to COVID-19, South Koreans are increasingly perceiving that reaction. However, it is unclear whether this is due to comparisons between South Korea’s reactions to COVID-19. Elsewhere and foreign praise for their country’s reaction or through their express reports with protective evidence and precautions. Similarly, it’s unclear exactly what the right case rate is for South Koreans and whether any other wave would wipe out that support.
Timothy S. Rich is an associate professor of political science at Western Kentucky University and director of the International Public Opinion Lab (IPOL). His studies are on public opinion and electoral politics, with a special focus on East Asian democracies.
Madelynn Einhorn is an honors undergraduate researcher at Western Kentucky University, majoring in Political Science and Economics.
Andi Dahmer is a 2018 Harry S. Truman Scholar and recent graduate of Western Kentucky University.
Isabel Eliassen is an undergraduate scholar at Western Kentucky University majoring in affairs, Chinese, and linguistics.
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South Korea showed its first case of COVID-19 on Jan. 20 and has since been praised around the world for its reaction to the pandemic, which relies on extensive testing, lax medical treatments and complicated generation. The South Korean government has also used GIS generation and government-created apps to track the spread of the virus, helping the country stop the spread of the outbreak before cases get out of control. Cases peaked on March 3 with 803 daily cases, but fell to less than 100 a month later. . While South Korea experienced a moderate momentary wave in August, when daily cases ranged from 200 to 300, daily numbers have recently fallen to double digits.
However, not everyone is satisfied with the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Many fitness professionals went on strike to protest the government’s decision to hire more medical academics instead of increasing salaries. In addition, the South Korean government publicly announces positive results, which critics cite as a violation of individual privacy and an invitation to public harassment. Similarly, a recent survey among South Koreans found that 40% believe severe COVID restrictions are taking a toll on their intellectual fitness. Some groups, such as the arguable Sarang Jeil Church, blamed for thousands of COVID-19 cases in South Korea, have participated in anti-government demonstrations.
In April, South Korea held elections to the National Assembly, offering a transparent example of how to conduct safe elections in a pandemic. The result was the highest turnout in parliamentary elections in just 30 years and a clear victory for President Moon Jae-in’s Democratic Party. Game. Still, poll results showed that reviews on COVID-19 were largely partisan, with supporters of the Democratic Party largely viewing the government’s reaction in positive terms and supporters of the conservative United Future Party (recently renamed as the People’s Power Party) overwhelmingly. oppose it.
Has this party persisted beyond the election cycle?
To answer this question, we surveyed 1,200 South Koreans from September 9 to 18, through an online survey administered through Macromill Embrain, using quota sampling by region and gender. We asked each interviewee to rate the “I am happy with the attitude of the South Korean government. “reaction to the 2020 coronavirus outbreak” on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. During the research, the number of daily cases in South Korea remained fairly stable, from just over a hundred to about 180 consistent cases. with the day.
The figure below shows the summary results. A broad majority of respondents agreed (44.08 percent) or strongly agreed (19.75 percent) that they were satisfied with the government’s COVID-19 response. Less than one-fifth of respondents strongly disagreed (5.08 percent) or disagreed (11.50 percent) with the government’s handling of the outbreak.
Interestingly, we asked the same question in the survey in March 2020 and the effects were very different: only about 44% of respondents supported the government’s response, while about 36% viewed it negatively. This change may simply be the result of a change in attitude in the response, because Koreans see how other countries like the United States have struggled to limit cases, or because the death toll globally has surpassed one million, or simply because of the end of an election. Partisan cycle and campaign.
We then disaggregate knowledge across political parties to determine whether there is a partisan belief about South Korea’s reaction to the coronavirus, combining “strongly disagree” with “disagree” and “strongly disagree. ” ‘agree’ with ‘agree’ for simplicity. Although there is widespread opinion about the government’s reaction to COVID-19, the breakdown of knowledge across political parties shows continued variation. About four-fifths (82. 81%) of respondents from the Democratic Party, South Korea’s existing ruling party, criticized the government’s pandemic strategy. Similarly, the more progressive Justice Party enjoys a strong matrix: two-thirds (66. 67%) of respondents consider the government’s reaction to COVID-19 successful. Members of the conservative opposition United Future Party/People’s Power Party (37. 09%) and those with no party preference (45. 12%) were less likely to say the government would react to COVID-19, but were unlikely They would disapprove of him. Furthermore, government reactions were higher in all groups compared to March survey data: the Democratic Party grew by 10. 08 percent, the United Future Party grew by 28. 54 percent. The Justice Party grew by 10. 41 percent and those without political identity grew by 17. 2 percent.
Finally, we sought to compare how other people perceived the government’s reaction to COVID-19 compared to how they rated President Moon’s performance. Unsurprisingly, for Moon and the government, the government’s reaction to COVID-19 is mirrored; 95. 05% of respondents who agree with the government’s pandemic policy also approve of Moon’s performance. Similarly, 64% of respondents who were unbiased about the government’s reaction to COVID-19 approved of Moon’s performance, while a majority (40. 24%) of those who disagreed with the reaction to the pandemic and also disapproved of Moon’s performance.
The findings here recommend that, despite persistent partisan differences over the appropriateness of the government’s reaction to COVID-19, South Koreans increasingly perceive that reaction. However, it is unclear whether this is due to comparisons between South Korea’s reactions and COVID-19. Elsewhere and foreign praise for the reaction of their country or through their express reports with tests and protective precautions. Similarly, it’s unclear exactly what the appropriate case rate is for South Koreans and whether any other wave would wipe out that support.
Timothy S. Rich is an associate professor of political science at Western Kentucky University and director of the International Public Opinion Laboratory (IPOL). It focuses on public opinion and electoral politics, with special emphasis on East Asian democracies.
Madelynn Einhorn is an honors undergraduate researcher at Western Kentucky University, majoring in Political Science and Economics.
Andi Dahmer is a 2018 Harry S. Truman Scholar and a graduate of Western Kentucky University.
Isabel Eliassen is an undergraduate scholar at Western Kentucky University majoring in affairs, Chinese, and linguistics.
South Korea showed its first case of COVID-19 on Jan. 20 and has since won foreign praise for its reaction to the pandemic, which has relied on extensive testing, lax medical treatments and complicated technology. South Korea’s government has also used GIS generation and government-created apps to track the spread of the virus, helping the country stop the spread of the outbreak before cases spiral out of control. Cases peaked on March 3 with 803 daily cases, but fell to less than 100 a month later. While South Korea experienced a moderate momentary wave in August, when daily cases ranged from two hundred to 300, daily numbers have recently declined to double digits.
However, not everyone is satisfied with the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Many medical professionals have gone on strike to protest the government’s decision to hire more medical academics instead of increasing salaries. In addition, the South Korean government publicly announces positive results, which critics cite as a violation of individual privacy and an invitation to public harassment. Similarly, a recent survey among South Koreans found that 40% believe severe COVID restrictions are harming their intellectual health. Some groups, such as the controversial Sarang Jeil Church, blamed for thousands of COVID-19 cases in South Korea, have participated in anti-government demonstrations.