As controversy over girl group Risenn member Wonyi's remark "Museopno" spread even into politics, a poll found that more than half of respondents said the expression "can be seen as a regional dialect."
According to results of a survey conducted by the Reform Research Institute, the Reform Party's think tank, of 500 men and women nationwide ages 18 and older from the 6th to the 7th, 55.8% of respondents said Wonyi's "Museopno" expression "can be seen as a regional dialect."
By contrast, 16.7% said it "can be seen as an Ilbe-style expression." Those who said "not sure" were tallied at 27.5%.
To the question of whether they knew about the controversy over the "Museopno" remark, 44.0% said "know well," and 26.6% said "know a little." Combined, 70.6% said they were aware. Those who said "don't know" were 29.3%.
By age group, the younger the respondents, the higher the rate of seeing the expression as dialect. Among those ages 18 to 29, 78.8% answered "regional dialect," and in their 30s, 77.9% gave the same answer.
In their 40s, 66.7%; in their 50s, 46.5%; and in their 60s, 46.3% viewed it as "regional dialect." Among those 70 and older, the rate fell to 25.1%.
Conversely, those who saw it as an "Ilbe-style expression" were 7.8% among ages 18 to 29 and 8.7% among those in their 30s. The figures were 17.3% for those in their 40s, 26.9% in their 50s, 20.0% in their 60s, and 15.5% for those 70 and older.
Negative views were dominant on concluding a specific political leaning based on speech or expressions. To the related question, 68.1% of respondents said it is "not appropriate." Those who said "appropriate" were 13.2%, and "not sure" were 18.7%.
Meanwhile, the poll was conducted using ARS automated response with a wireless RDD method. The response rate was 0.53%, and the margin of error was ±4.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Weighting used rim weighting by sex, age, and region based on the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's June 2026 resident registration population.