More than 2 out of 3 of our citizens assessed Korea's status in the international community as being in the upper middle tier or higher.
In particular, the percentage of citizens who recognize that "Korea has entered the ranks of developed countries" reached 27.8%. Ten years ago, only 8.2% of citizens responded that Korea was a developed country. Over the past decade, the percentage of our citizens who think Korea is a developed country has increased by nearly 20 percentage points.
The Office for Government Policy Coordination announced the results of a survey on liberation awareness conducted among 1,500 adult men and women nationwide on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of liberation on the 1st.
A notable aspect of this liberation awareness survey was the results concerning Korea's national status.
The percentage of respondents who perceived Korea's status as a developed country was 27.8%, which significantly increased compared to 1.9% in 2005 and 8.2% in 2015.
The segment with the highest response rate in this survey was the "upper middle tier." 39.3% of respondents identified Korea's status as upper middle tier. The response rate for Korea's international status as upper middle tier was 23.5% in 2005 and 38.9% in 2015.
There was also a positive assessment of our history. Among respondents, 90.6% answered that they were "proud" of our history.
The response rate for the statement that they were "proud" of Korea's history was recorded at 69.2% in 2005 and 83.3% in 2015.
As for the vision for the future of the Republic of Korea, 34.8% of respondents hoped for a "mature democracy." This was followed by "an economically prosperous country" (19.1%) and "a country with stable social order" (19.1%).
As national tasks that need to be addressed as we mark the 80th anniversary of liberation, 32.4% cited responding to population changes such as low birth rates and aging, while 21.5% mentioned social integration and resolving conflicts between generations and classes.
The priority that the government should consider when promoting commemorative projects for the 80th anniversary of liberation is "promoting national unity and consensus formation," which received the highest response rate at 31.1%. Other major tasks identified included "enhancing vitality for future generations" (16.5%), "presenting a future-oriented national vision" (16.1%), and "fostering public historical awareness and pride" (14.1%).
Park Sang-cheol, head of the 80th Anniversary of Liberation Commemoration Promotion Planning Division, said, "We will actively reflect the demands of the citizens shown in the survey to ensure that this commemorative project can be successful."