A public survey suggests that the most serious social strife in the country is the political conflict between progressives and conservatives.

According to a paper titled “Changes in Koreans’ Perception of Social Conflict and Implications,” published by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on Wednesday, more than nine out of ten people consider political disputes the most serious among various social issues.

Among the types of social discord, the respondents viewed political conflicts between progressives and conservatives as very serious, while gender conflicts between men and women were perceived as less severe.

Specifically, 92-point-three percent of respondents considered the dissension between progressives and conservatives to be the most serious type of social conflict, followed by conflicts between regular and irregular workers at 82-point-two percent, labor-management conflicts at 79-point-one percent, wealth inequality conflicts at 78 percent, and conflicts between large and small businesses at 71-point-eight percent.

In contrast, conflicts between homeowners and non-homeowners were considered less severe at 60-point-nine percent, followed by generational conflicts at 56 percent, multicultural conflicts at 54-point-one percent, and gender conflicts at 46-point-six percent.

The agency has carried out annual surveys on social conflict and social integration since 2014.

In 2023, it conducted face-to-face interviews with three thousand-950 men and women aged 19 to 75 between June and August.