The OECD Trust Survey explores people’s perceptions of different public institutions in their country and the degree to which they trust their government. These perceptions range from day-to-day interactions with public institutions to decision making on complex policy issues. Initiated in 2021, the Trust Survey was carried out in 30 OECD countries in October and November 2023, with results representative of their respective adult populations.
OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions 2024 Results - Country Notes: Korea
Trust in public institutions
In 2023, 37% of Koreans reported high or moderately high trust in the national government, slightly below the OECD average of 39%.
This number represents a decrease by 12 percentage points since 2021, compared to an average decrease of 2.4 percentage points among the eighteen OECD countries with available data.
Figure 1. Trust in national government, 2023
Share of population who indicate different levels of trust in their national government (on a 0-10 scale), 2023
Note: ‘High or moderately high’ corresponds to the aggregation of response options 6-10 to the question “On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, how much do you trust the national government?”; neutral to option 5 and “low or no” to response options 0-4.
Koreans place more trust in other people (53%), international organizations (52%) and the police (42%) than in the national government (37%). Around a third of population reports high or moderately high trust in the national civil service (36%), local government (35%) and courts and the judicial system (33%). Political parties (20%), national parliament (21%) and news media (30%) are the least trusted institutions.
Figure 2. Share of population with high or moderately high trust in different public institutions, other people and media, 2021 and 2023
Note: ‘High or moderately high’ corresponds to the aggregation of response options 6-10 to the question “On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, how much do you trust [institution]?”; neutral to option 5 and “low or no” to response options 0-4.
Koreans who feel that the current political system does not let people like them have a say tend to trust the national government 49 percentage points less than those who feel they have political voice. This trust gap is slightly larger than the 47 percentage points gap on average across OECD countries.
Men in Korea on average are more likely to have high or moderately high trust in the national government (41%) than women do (33%), slightly above the 7 percentage points average gender trust gap across OECD countries.
The Korean trust gap between the older and younger people is below the OECD average. The trust gaps between those with and without financial concerns, those with lower and higher educational attainment and between older and younger people are similar in Korea and on average across the OECD.
Figure 3. Share of population with high or moderately high trust in the national government by population group, 2023
Note: ‘High or moderately high’ corresponds to the aggregation of response options 6-10 to the question “On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, how much do you trust the national government?”; neutral to option 5 and “low or no” to response options 0-4.
Perceptions of the public governance drivers of trust
Perceptions of day-to-day interactions with public institutions
For nearly half of the considered measures, Koreans’ satisfaction with day-to-day interactions with public institutions is above the OECD average, but for half, the opposite is true.
A large majority of Koreans (72%) with recent experience with the healthcare system are satisfied with it, compared to 52% on average across the OECD. Moreover, 76% are satisfied with the administrative services they used, an important driver of trust in the civil service, compared to a 66% OECD average. In contrast, 45% of Koreans with recent experience with the education system are satisfied with it, below the OECD average of 57%.
People in Korea find it more likely than the OECD average that public services would improve following complaints: 46% of people in Korea find this likely, compared to the OECD average of 39%.
Although a majority of Koreans (57%) expect that information on administrative services is easy to find and 43% think that the government would use personal data only for legitimate purposes, these values are below OECD averages (67% and 52%, respectively).
Only 31% of Koreans expect that they will have the opportunity to voice opinions on local matters, lower than the OECD average of 41%.
Figure 4. Perceptions of day-to-day interactions between the population and public institutions
Share of population who are satisfied with public services/find a positive action in the respective situation likely, OECD and Korea, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Korea of the share of respondents who choose a response of 6-10 on the 0-10 scale for the above questions. Satisfaction with public services is restricted to recent service users.
Perceptions of decision making on complex policy issues
Korea performs close to the OECD average in almost all measures considered of decision making on complex policy issues. However, in Korea and across the OECD, a lower share of people has positive perceptions regarding complex decision-making than regarding day-to-day interactions with public institutions.
A similar proportion of Koreans and on average across OECD countries find it likely that government can regulate new technologies appropriately (42%) and that would use best available evidence for decision-making (41%).
Perceptions of government integrity are low in most countries: Only 34% of people in Korea find it likely that government would refuse requests from corporations that could harm public interest, although still higher than OECD average of 30%. However, only one in four (26%) think that politicians would refuse a private sector job in return for political favours, lower than the average across OECD countries (31%).
Around four in ten Koreans (39%) believe that the political system allows people like them to have a say in what government does. This important driver of trust in the national government is 9 percentage points higher than the average across OECD countries (30%).
Figure 5. Perceptions of government decision making on complex policy issues
Share of population who are confident in or find a positive action in the respective situation likely, OECD and Korea, 2023
Note: The figure presents the unweighted OECD averages and values for Korea of the share of respondents who choose a response of 6-10 on the 0-10 scale for the above questions.
For more information see oe.cd/trust
This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD.
This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.