This article examines the Korean adolescents and adults' social representation and trust of Korean society and people using indigenous psychological analysis. Respondents were asked to write in an open-ended questionnaire their perception of the following five aspects: Korean politics, economy, society, culture and people. They were then asked to report why they trust or distrust Korean society. A total of 1,064 respondents (218 middle school students, 200 university students, 218 fathers of the middle school students, 218 mothers of the middle school students, and 210 teachers) completed a questionnaire developed by the present researchers. The data were collected during April to June, 2003. The results indicate that 94.5% of Koreans view the existing political system and politicians as being corrupt, inept, factional, and lacking in integrity. A vast majority (84.9%) recognize the existence of systemic problems in the Korean economy. A total of 78.2% see problems in Korean society being dominated by selfishness, factionalism, conservatism, and social uncertainty. For Korean culture, a majority of respondents report being proud of its cultural tradition, accomplishment, and creativity. At the same time, 45.7% report loss of cultural identity and pride due to external influences. More than half of the respondents report negative aspects of Korean people (i.e., selfish, lack of morality, rushed, and overly focused on their social image), while nearly half of the respondents report positive aspects of Korean people as being compassionate, cooperative, good-natured and hard-working. As for reason for trusting Korean society, around a third report "because it is our country," followed by its future potential, and the good-nature and willingness of Korean people to work hard. The reasons for distrusting Korean society is the dishonesty politicians, corruption, institutional ineptness, and economic uncertainty. These results indicate a low level of collective efficacy in influencing and affecting change in Korean society.