Foreigners say Korea well qualified to host G-20 summit: poll

SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Yonhap) -- Nearly nine out of 10 foreigners believe that South
Korea is well qualified to host the G-20 summit in 2010 and that the summit will
help improve the country's image as a global leader, according to a global survey
released Sunday.

Over 45 percent of 2,500 respondents also said that the G-20 summit will help
South Korea shed the negative image associated with its ongoing confrontation
with North Korea.
South Korea technically remains at war with its communist neighbor since the
1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice and not a peace treaty.
Seoul is set to host the world's premier forum for economic cooperation in
November. It will also co-host a June summit to be held in Canada as it assumes
the chairmanship of the G-20 forum in 2010.
The survey was conducted by the Presidential Council on Nation Branding on 1,000
local residents, as well as 250 people each from 10 other countries -- China,
Japan, India, Germany, France, Britain, Russia, Brazil, South Africa and the
United States.
Over 88 percent of South Koreans surveyed said the November summit will help
improve the country's overall image in the international community, while 84.3
percent of foreign respondents offered the same positive view, the council said
in a press release.
"The survey, however, showed that it is little known even to our own people that
the country will host the G-20 summit," it said.
Only about half of Koreans surveyed said they knew the summit will be held in
Seoul in November while only 32.6 percent of respondents abroad said they were
aware of Seoul's hosting of the summit.
bdk@yna.co.kr