Koreans are least likely to trust political parties that do not represent public opinion, according to a joint survey by the JoongAng Ilbo and the East Asia Institute.
They put their trust in conglomerates instead.
In the latest annual survey of 25 power groups in Korea - including major political parties, civic groups, self-interest groups, the Constitutional Court, the Blue House and police - Korea’s conglomerates were named as the most trusted and influential groups in Korea.
The poll found that Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG groups topped the rankings in both categories, finishing ahead of even the court system. Samsung was ranked the highest for influence, but fell from first place to fourth place when ranked for trust, a that likely stemmed from the recent corruption scandal. Hyundai Motor was ranked as the most trusted, while it came in second on the influence list. The Constitutional Court was ranked the fifth for both trust and influence.
The Blue House was ranked ninth most influential, while its ranking for public confidence came in at 17th.
The 2008 survey showed that the people’s trust in liberal groups including the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the United Democratic Party and the Lawyers for a Democratic Society has grown since last year.
Conservative groups, meanwhile, suffered a decline in public trust. These groups include the Grand National Party, New Right Union and the Federation of Korean Industries.
Public distrust of political parties continued this year. The governing Grand National Party was ranked the 21st among the 25 polled for confidence. The United Democratic Party ranked 22nd, the Democratic Labor Party 24th and the Liberty Forward Party came in dead last.
The nationwide telephone survey was conducted May 28, May 29 and June 2. The poll has a confidence ranking of 95 percent, and this year’s poll was the fourth of its kind.
Lee Hyeon-Woo, a political science professor at Sogang University, said that, while the people ranked the 25 polled institutions as influential, they did not trust them.
"It is noteworthy that public trust in 13 out of the 25 institutions fell this year from last year," Lee said. "In the 2007 survey, only six of the 25 showed a decrease in confidence."
"This shows that institutional confidence, a basic element of democracy, is disappearing from our society. When that happens, democracy is weakened and the people tend to directly participate in politics," Lee said. "The candlelight vigils, which began as protests against the resumption of U.S. beef imports, have grown into a larger crisis after the government failed to handle the situation properly and break up the street demonstrators with police force."
"The people’s trust in conglomerates and the court system shows that Korea’s basic environment for democracy and a capitalist economy is stable," Lee said. "In contrast, institutional authority and political parties were distrusted. This means that the people are dissatisfied with the national governance and don’t believe their voices are being heard."
By Shin Chang-un Staff Reporter, Ser Myo-ja