Most South Koreans are very cynical about politicians as they believe those in politics tend to serve not for national interests but personal gains, a survey showed Thursday.

As many as 87.3 percent of the 1,052 people polled said politicians put more focus on personal interests than on national well-being, according to a poll conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs between June and November last year.

Only 7.3 percent were neutral and 5.3 percent said politicians are focused more on national interests than private gains.

On the question do politicians say good things just to collect votes, 85.5 percent said "yes" while 5.3 percent responded with "no." About 9.1 percent were neutral.

About 73.4 percent said it is naive to believe the words of politicians.

The survey also showed that those who converse frequently about politics with family members are cynical about politics in general.

The families who rarely talk about politics also did not think highly of  politics, according to the survey. (Yonhap)