By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

Unruliness tarnishes Korea's image significantly, foreigners living in Korea said in a survey.

The survey was conducted by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) on 359 opinion leaders in Seoul, including 103 foreigners, between Nov. 28 and Dec. 14 to monitor foreigners' changing attitudes.

On the question of factors blackening Korea's image, 31.7 percent of the foreign respondents picked Korea's deep-rooted public discourteousness, followed by xenophobia with 21.9 percent and social corruption with 20.3 percent.

Results were similar in the survey done on Korean respondents.

More than 24 percent of Korean respondents selected lack of respect for others in public as most needed for a better image, followed by xenophobia with 22.9 percent and corruption with 22.2 percent.

``It is a matter of education. Generally, Koreans are well mannered when they are with those whom they know well. But such an attitude changes completely when they are surrounded by strangers,'' Prof. Choi Jung-wha at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and president of CICI told The Korean Times. ``Xenophobia also stems from a self-centered mindset and ultra-nationalism, both of which are deep-rooted in Korean society.''

About a fourth of the foreign respondents said ``hallyu (Korean wave)'' represented Korea well overseas, followed by ``hangeul'' with 27.1 percent and ``taekwondo'' with 9.32 percent. Kimchi, which has been touted as a healthy food overseas, came next with 4.2 percent.

The survey showed more than 76 percent of foreign respondents study Korean. More than 16 percent of those said they were learning Korean for business.

Only 38 percent of foreign respondents had learned Korean at an organization teaching the language in systematically such as at public schools and private institutes, proving the shortage of educational institutes for foreigners.

With more foreigners here showing an interest in learning Korean, the government should come up with measures to offer them state support,'' Choi said.

pss@korestimes.co.kr