South Korean college students regard politicians as the most untrustworthy of all occupational groups in the country, a poll showed Monday.

The survey on 1,906 students attending two- to four-year colleges nationwide showed 85.3 percent of those surveyed view politicians as the least trustworthy group.

More than 7 percent of the respondents said they have no confidence in journalists while 2 percent, 1.9 percent, and 0.7 percent selected soldiers, businessmen and lawyers as the most unreliable groups, respectively.

College students topped the list as the most reliable group with 15.9 percent. Civic activists came next with 13.5 percent while 10.4 percent and 10 percent chose farmers and teachers, respectively.

Questioned about the most pressing issue facing society, 26.7 percent answered “corruption.”

About 25 percent said the widening income gap is the top issue while 18.4 percent and 9.1 percent said society should gain political stability and economic growth. Educational reform took fifth place as the nation’s most important issue.

A majority of the respondents answered that they respect the former South Korean Foreign Minister and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon the most among Korean figures. Steve Jobs was found to be the most revered foreign figure.

Questioned whether proper measures were taken to deal with April’s ferry tragedy that claimed more than 300 lives and prevent the recurrence of similar incidents, 76.6 percent answered negatively while only 4.8 percent said “yes.” Eleven percent said the response has been “so-so” and 7.6 percent said they didn’t know, according to the poll.

The survey, taken by Daily University News Network from August to September, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points. (Yonhap)