Proud to be Korean? More people say no

(123rf)

Nearly 1 in 5 Koreans say they are not proud of their nationality, and 1 in 3 say they are not willing to fight for the country, according to the World Values Survey, a global research project conducted by social scientists on Wednesday.

To a question asking if they feel proud of their nationality, 18.6 percent of Korean respondents said “no,” showed the cross-national, five-year study conducted between 2017 and 2022.

In the previous WVS, carried out between 2010 and 2014, 9 percent expressed a negative opinion toward being Korean nationals.

South Korea placed 47th among the 57 countries where the survey was carried out, with some 81.4 percent saying they are proud to be Korean nationals. The overall average of the 57 countries was 87 percent.

For the question related to pride in one's nationality, Colombia had the highest rate at 92 percent among major OECD countries, followed by Mexico (91.2 percent), New Zealand (89.8 percent), Greece (89.2 percent), Turkey (87.6 percent), Canada (87.6 percent) and Australia (85.7 percent).

The survey also revealed that some 32.6 percent of Koreans were unwilling to fight in a war for their country, higher than the 25.9 percent average of those unwilling to fight in OECD member countries.

The World Values Survey is a common questionnaire survey used to study the changing attitudes and values of individuals across the world. It is conducted in waves, with each wave covering a span of five years. The latest one was the seventh wave.

By Park Han-na(hnpark@heraldcorp.com)