According to a recent survey, four in five respondents support cutting tuition. Also, more than half of respondents said they “approve” of the ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement.
On May 28, Hankook Research conducted a land-line phone survey of 800 adults across the country on their feelings toward cutting tuition fees and ratifying the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement. The JoongAng Ilbo, YTN and East Asia Institute sponsored the survey.
Grand National Party floor leader Hwang Woo-yea, who has championed lowering college tuition, said he would draw up a final plan after holding a public hearing in June. Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic Party said the policy should be adopted as soon as possible after drawing up an additional budget of 500 billion won ($464 million).
On the tuition issue, 58.4 percent of the survey respondents said that “the policy should be implemented restrictively considering the fiscal situation.”
Those who said “the policy should be implemented actively, despite budget deficits,” accounted for 19.9 percent, which means, 78.3 percent of respondents endorse the move. Those who opposed to the policy accounted for 18.4 percent, saying they “oppose it because it’s a policy to get votes in future elections.”
As for the FTA between Korea and the U.S., 57.8 percent of respondents approved while 32.7 percent opposed. The GNP wants ratification to be achieved at the National Assembly session in June, while the DP opposes it.
Also in the survey, more people - 67.1 percent - were pessimistic about efforts of U.S. Armed Forces Korea to investigate whether Agent Orange defoliants were buried at military bases, while only 30.2 percent of people gave a positive evaluation of their efforts.
Results also showed that 34.9 percent of total respondents believed that President Lee Myung-bak carried out affairs of state well, a decrease from 35.1 percent last month.
The Lee administration’s campaign to create a “fair society” received negative evaluations, as 66.3 percent of respondents believed the campaign is fruitless while 22.1 believed it is productive.