Citizen Views of Globalization and State Governance in Korea

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to delineate the major characteristics of South Korea's globalization governance, utilizing two waves of the Asian Barometer (hereafter AB) survey. The first AB (N=1,500) survey was conducted in 2003 and the second (N=1,212) was conducted in 2006. The AB 2003 survey includes seven countries in Asia, such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Singapore. This paper examines Korean public attitudes toward globalization, national identity, and perception of the state capacity with respect of globalization, along with socio-economic attributes of respondents. To what extent does the mass public of Korea support various kinds of globalization? Does their support for government's role tend to converge in the same direction or diverge? Using descriptive statistics of indicators of 2003 and 2006 AB survey and variables, this study shows that, in spite of globalization, many Koreans still believe the state plays a more active role in economic situation. Strong nation-based identity tends to make more Koreans to hold the view that state should keep its capacity autonomously to control foreign products.