While Korean unification remains one of the most significant issues in inter-Korean and international affairs, little is known about the perception of the likelihood of the Korean unification, especially amongst the elderly population. Yes, the proportion of the population in South Korea has been rapidly rising, becoming an increasingly important civic group. In this study, we analyzed the data from the 2018 nationally representative Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging survey using ordered logistic regression modelling. The results show that age, life satisfaction, health status, participation in social activities, and geographical location are the most important factors affecting the perception of Korean unification. We also find some gender differences in relation to the impact of education and wealth. Further qualitative studies might be useful to gain an in-depth understanding of people’s perceptions as well as possible socioeconomic and cultural barriers to a potential pre-unifying process.

Introduction: Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019, public policy debate has been increasingly focusing on developing and implementing new disease prevention measures based on tracking of geographical location, in particular during the quarantine period. Limited studies have so far investigated possible public acceptance of such measures. Methods: We analyzed a sample data of 1,000 respondents from the 2021 Korean Social Science Data Center using descriptive statistics and logistic regression modelling. The outcome variable was the binary variable measuring the public acceptance of COVID-19 related tracking devices for people subjected to quarantine, explanatory variable included socio-economic characteristics and subjective perception measures. Results: The results suggest that subjective factors, such as perceived likelihood of virus contraction (OR=1.78) and severity of the disease (OR=2.21), rather than socio-economic factors, are key determinants of public acceptance of COVID-19 related location tracking technology. Elderly participants in the middle socio-economic class have shown the highest acceptance rate for tracking device implementation Conclusion: Although the use of location tracking devices has been increasing exponentially, there is still limited understanding in terms of public acceptance of such devices. The results of this study contribute to identifying such determinants, this contributing to policy design related to COVID-19.