Foreigners view moral standing as key quality

The ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Park Geun-hye, left, smiles after receiving a sweater from a supporter during a campaign in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday, while Moon Jae-in, the standard bearer of the Democratic United Party (DUP) holds hands with members of the newly-formed liberal alliance at a ceremony at the Kim Koo Museum and Library in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul, Thursday. (Photo : The Korea Times/Oh Dae-geun, Son Yong-seok)

Foreign tourists and residents say the most important quality for a leader and by extension the next Korean president is “moral standing,” according to a recent survey published Thursday.

They also think inter-Korean relations will be the new leader’s biggest challenge.

The survey by travel agency Cosmojin Tour, coming ahead of the Dec. 19 presidential election, was conducted on 289 male and 174 female respondents from Nov. 19 to 30, whose biggest age group was in the 30 to 40 range.

When asked what the most important quality in a president was, 40.3 percent answered morality, followed by leadership at 19.7 percent.

Other qualities included communication skills (13.3 percent), execution skills (11.9 percent), foreign language skills (9.1 percent) and appearance (5.6 percent).

“Foreigners also seem to be quite interested in our presidential election; and as the survey shows, leadership may be important but what is more important is morality,” said Cosmojin Tour President Jung Myung-jin.

A foreign correspondent in Korea, who asked not to be named, said the survey was similar to views expressed by Koreans following a series of corruption cases that have erupted recently.

“I think the Korean people would be interested in the results because foreigners answered the same way they would. But the survey simply reflects how people think all over the world, regardless of whether they are Korean or not. Morality is a basic quality that everyone across the world requires in a leader,” he said.

“I think the reason why the results seem more significant is because it comes amid a series of corruption cases involving high ranking officials and leaders in Korea.”

Koreans weren’t surprised with the result.

“I don’t think it’s new that foreigners pick morality as an important quality in the next president because all of the former Korean presidents served as bad examples in terms of morality,” said Woo Bong-joon, an office worker in his 30s.

“None have been clean of corruption; all had either corruption in their family or acquaintances or a morality problem. These issues always come up toward the end of a presidency.”

The survey also asked what tasks foreigners thought was imminent for the next president.

Some 53.4 percent answered relations with North Korea, followed by resolving the economic crisis and unemployment at 23.9 percent, and enhancing public safety and solving human rights issues at 11.9 and 10.3 percent respectively.

The results come as no surprise as Korea remains one of a handful of separated countries and foreigners take an interest in the divided peninsula.

The survey also showed that the top tourist destination for foreigners, if the next president could personally guide them, was the demilitarized zone (DMZ) or the Joint Security Area (JSA) in Panmunjom.

About 42.2 percent answered they would like to visit the DMZ or JSA followed by Cheong Wa Dae at 22.7 percent. Other tourist sites foreigners would like to see with the president as a guide included Gyeongbok Palace (12.4 percent), Jeju Island (10.5 percent), Hongdae (7.3 percent) and Haeundae Beach in Busan (4.9 percent).

As for policies they hope the next president will improve for foreigners in Korea, 31 percent said a convenient interpretation system followed by removing racial discrimination at 28 percent. Others answered solving traffic problems at 22.5 percent and cutting expensive fees at tourist sites with 15.7 percent. <The Korea  Times/Yun Suh-young>