Favorite Businessmen, Politicians Among Koreans Identified

A survey has shown that the most popular businessman among Korean is Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee. 

Gallup Korea announced on March 12 that 34 percent of the respondents said Lee Kun-hee, chairman of the Samsung Group, is their favorite businessman in Korea. They surveyed 1,700 Koreans aged 13 and older from Oct. 2 to 29 last year. 

Even in a survey conducted in 2004, Chairman Lee Kun-hee ranked 1st, winning 17 percent of the votes. In this latest survey 10 years later, he gained more than twice as many votes as before.  

The late Hyundai Group Honorary Chairman Chung Ju-yung ranked 2nd, accounting for 20 percent of its votes, followed by Samsung Group Founder Lee Byung-chul with 5 percent, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo with 3 percent, and Former Hyundai Heavy Industries Chairman Chung Mong-joon with 3 percent. 

Daewoo Group Founder Kim Woo-joong, the late Yuhan Corporation Founder Yu Il-han, AhnLab founder Ahn Cheol-soo, and former KT Chairman Lee Suk-chae accounted for 2 percent each, while LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo accounted for 1.5 percent. 

Gallup Korea said, “Two of the Samsung Group and three of the Hyundai Group made the top 5. Particularly, Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee led the Samsung Group right before checking into a hospital last year, expanding his existence from before.”

Meanwhile, in the survey on favorite politicians, former President Roh Moo-hyun came in first with 32 percent, beating former President Park Chung-hee.

Former President Park Chung-hee came in second with 28 percent, former President Kim Dae-jung third with 16 percent, President Park Geun-hye fourth with 5 percent, former President Lee Myung-bak fifth with 3 percent, former President Chun Doo-hwan sixth with 1.9 percent, former President Kim Young-sam seventh with 1.6 percent, and former Presidents Roh Tae-woo and Lee Seung-man eighth with 0.8 percent each. 

Compared to the survey in 2004 when former President Park Chung-hee took the first rank with 48 percent and former President Roh Moo-hyun accounted for only 7 percent, the result is a huge change.