Majority of Koreans oppose Seoul’s new slogan: survey

More than half of Koreans oppose Seoul’s controversial new slogan “I.Seoul.U,” a survey showed Thursday.

According to the survey conducted by local pollster Realmeter, 54.7 percent of the respondents were against the slogan, while only 11.9 percent supported it. Nearly 7 in 10 Seoul residents were unhappy with it.

Nearly 36 percent of respondents opposed said that Seoul should keep the current slogan “Hi Seoul” while 18.9 percent thought the government should pick a new one.

Last week, “I.Seoul.U” was chosen as the new slogan to promote the nation’s capital city around the world, replacing “Hi Seoul,” which had been used for 13 years.

Yet, the new slogan drew mostly negative reactions, with Koreans and expats ridiculing it for not making sense in English and posting parodies of the logo to social media.

Respondents in their 30s opposed the slogan the most, at 62.3 percent, followed by those in their 50s (58.6 percent) and those aged over 60 (58.6 percent).

The poll surveyed 500 Koreans aged 19 or over nationwide via phone. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. 

By Ock Hyun-ju
(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)