Citizen distrust in government might lead citizens to conceive that the private sector is superior in conducting government activities and in turn give rise to greater levels of support for privatization. Although much attention has been paid to the relationship between trust in government and privatization, there is little research on their relationship in Chile and Korea, which heavily adopted the New Public Management doctrines. Thus, the purpose of this article is to advance the understanding of trust in government by examining the influence of trust in government on citizens' preference for privatization. Using the samples of Chile and South Korea, the results show that the Korean citizens who distrust their government are more likely to prefer privatization. Contrary to the hypothesized expectation, however, the Chilean citizens support privatization even when they trust in government. The positive association between trust in government and supports for privatization in the Chilean context, in contrast to the Korean context, supports the importance of historical backgrounds in shaping attitudes toward privatization.

The waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) involves various types of products that have reached the end of their lifespan and can cause environmental contamination and health issues for humans when WEEE is treated in informal sectors. Since 2008, Korea has operated the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system and the Eco-Assurance system (Eco-AS), which collect and recycle WEEE under related laws. Although the EPR and Eco-AS systems successfully dealt with about 376,000 tons of WEEE in 2020, approximately 58% remained in the informal sector, posing potential risks to the environment and humans. Consequently, this paper was designed to deliver information currently related to the status of WEEE recycling in Korea, mainly regarding legislation, management systems, recycling achievement, and potential problems. This study discussed the seriousness of the informal sector, in which WEEE is illegally treated without proper guidelines, and sought ways to reduce the proportion of the informal sector.