<W commentary> What are Koreans' interest in the Tokyo Olympics? = There are complicated circumstances that cannot be said in the opinion poll
At the time of the opening, only 32% of Koreans answered that they were "interested" in the Tokyo Olympics, according to the opinion poll results by the polling company Gallup Korea, which was reported by the Korean news agency Yonhap News Agency.

According to the article, the survey was conducted on the 20th to 22nd, targeting 1003 people aged 18 and over throughout Korea. Regarding the Tokyo Olympics, 32% were "interested" and 66% were "not interested", which is the lowest level of interest among the major Olympics since 1992. Before the 2012 London Games, the interest level was 59%, and before the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, the interest level was 60%.

On the other hand, Dong-A Ilbo introduced the voices of Koreans who are interested in the Olympics before the opening.

In South Korea, they have been hit by "fourth wave" of COVID-19 virus, and many office workers have switched to working from home again due to the re-emergence of the infection. A 29-year-old office worker introduced in the article also started working from home. "Turn on the TV, read messages and emails, and watch inconspicuously" he said in an interview with the newspaper. By working from home, I hope that while working hard, I will be able to pay attention to the Olympics broadcast.

A 34-year-old office worker was also interested in the Olympics, but before the opening, he revealed complicated circumstances, saying, "I can't say that I'm looking forward to the Olympics because the relationship between Korea and Japan is not good."

The article said, "The heat of the Olympics is different from usual due to the influence of the cold Korea-Japan relations and the Corona virus." However, "There are still many people who are looking forward to watching the Olympics." I think it's a great opportunity to enjoy the competition."

KBS, a public broadcaster in South Korea, will broadcast 34 events live, and will broadcast all games of baseball and soccer live from Tokyo. At a press conference on the 7th, KBS Sports Bureau Director Jung Jae Young said, "Public broadcaster KBS will challenge a special broadcasting that has never been experienced before."

In addition to the first and second broadcasts of the channel, the mobile platform "myK" will be used to broadcast live and recorded games. KBS will form a special team of 65 people to convey the tournament.

In addition, the Korean internet giant Naver has secured the right to relay the tournament online. What is online relay right? Video relay rights obtained by paying three terrestrial broadcasting companies that hold general relay rights. Naver, opened a special page for the Olympics on their portal site. In addition to live broadcasting of major competitions, highlight images will also be provided, whilst also functioning as a way to send messages of support to athletes.

Even at the Olympics held during theses times (Corona), it seems that each medium will focus on broadcasting and video streaming in anticipation of a certain demand.

President Moon Jae-in told SNS on the 22nd, "I believe in the healing and harmony power of sports. At a nationally difficult time, people are comforted and moved by sport. I hope that the activities of the representative athletes will empower the people who are struggling due to the corona virus.

South Korea has set the goal of "7 or more gold medals and 10th overall" at this tournament, and medallists are being born one after another in archery and other places. In the patriotic South Korea, they will not be indifferent to the activities of the national team.

Real-time audience rating research firm ATAM revealed that the Archery mixed team final, which brought Korea's first medal at this tournament, was broadcast live by three Korean terrestrial broadcasters (KBS, MBC, SBS). The audience rating was 15.03% in total. In the case of the soccer group league match, the total audience rating on the 25th was 29.41%, and the total on the 28th was 26.2%.

As mentioned by the office worker mentioned above, it may not be possible to say that you are "interested" in the Olympic Games as they are being held in Japan, in which Korea has a deteriorating relationship. South Korea's polls, including weekly presidential approval ratings, sample statistical samples for the population and conduct surveys primarily through mobile phones. If you make a mechanical call to a sample of about 20,000 people, about 1,000 people will answer, so this will be statistically processed and the results will be announced.

If it is a normal survey, statistical processing will increase the reliability, so there will be no problem. However, in the case of a political opinion poll, it may be possible to identify an individual by telephone number, and there is concern about disadvantages. There is a high possibility that the survey results will be distorted because there is a high possibility that they will not respond to the survey even if they are sampled and respond to the survey.

In particular, under the administration that shouts "anti-Japan" it is a reality that even if it is not "pro-Japan," it is treated as "non-national" simply by making a friendly statement to Japan. It cannot be confirmed how many Koreans who expect improvement in Japan-South Korea relations are responding to polls. However, as far as the opinion poll and the audience rating are compared, we can see the reality of South Korea, which is "cannot say the truth".
2021/08/04 21:22 KST