By Rachel Lee
More than half of South Koreans support the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense system despite controversy over its establishment, according to a poll released Friday.
The Gallup Korea survey this week showed 53 percent of the 1,003 respondents were in favor of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery while 32 percent were against it. The survey had a 3.1 percent margin of error.
This was an increase of 2 percentage points in favor and a drop of 8 percentage points against from the survey conducted in January when China was stepping up retaliation against South Korea over the deployment, Gallup Korea said.
"The current opinions under the new government are similar to the opinions surveyed right after the official announcement of the THAAD deployment in July last year," the pollster said. In the July poll, 50 percent of respondents approved the plan while 32 percent opposed it.
Almost half the THAAD battery supporters believed it is a defense system for national security and safety. Twenty-two percent expressed support for the deployment because it could take action against North Korea's nuclear provocations.
A quarter of the opposition said the missile shield is ineffective. About 20 percent of dissenters believed the THAAD system does nothing good for the country.
Among supporters of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), 85 percent of respondents approved the deployment. About 75 percent of Bareun Party followers supported it.
Thirty-nine percent of followers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea backed the deployment while 44 percent expressed opposition. Among Justice Party supporters, 60 percent were in favor.
Meanwhile, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) announced Thursday that a suspected North Korean drone found last week took 551 photos of the U.S. missile shield site in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.
Lee Cheol-woo of the LKP, who chairs the parliament's intelligence committee, said after an NIS briefing that the drone was made with components from Japan, China and the U.S.
The NIS also said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made 32 percent fewer public appearances this year compared with last year, which indicates that Kim has "successfully grabbed power."
In 2013, Kim appeared in public 244 times, and in the next two years 177 and 160 times. The North Korean leader has made 51 public appearances this year.
Regarding Pyongyang's rejection of South Korean civic and religious groups' bids to resume exchanges, the NIS said it is seeing a war of nerves with the new government, which is likely to last.
It also said North Korea is holding six South Koreans and four people of Korean descent.
More than half of South Koreans support the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense system despite controversy over its establishment, according to a poll released Friday.
The Gallup Korea survey this week showed 53 percent of the 1,003 respondents were in favor of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery while 32 percent were against it. The survey had a 3.1 percent margin of error.
This was an increase of 2 percentage points in favor and a drop of 8 percentage points against from the survey conducted in January when China was stepping up retaliation against South Korea over the deployment, Gallup Korea said.
"The current opinions under the new government are similar to the opinions surveyed right after the official announcement of the THAAD deployment in July last year," the pollster said. In the July poll, 50 percent of respondents approved the plan while 32 percent opposed it.
Almost half the THAAD battery supporters believed it is a defense system for national security and safety. Twenty-two percent expressed support for the deployment because it could take action against North Korea's nuclear provocations.
A quarter of the opposition said the missile shield is ineffective. About 20 percent of dissenters believed the THAAD system does nothing good for the country.
Among supporters of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), 85 percent of respondents approved the deployment. About 75 percent of Bareun Party followers supported it.
Thirty-nine percent of followers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea backed the deployment while 44 percent expressed opposition. Among Justice Party supporters, 60 percent were in favor.
Meanwhile, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) announced Thursday that a suspected North Korean drone found last week took 551 photos of the U.S. missile shield site in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.
Lee Cheol-woo of the LKP, who chairs the parliament's intelligence committee, said after an NIS briefing that the drone was made with components from Japan, China and the U.S.
The NIS also said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made 32 percent fewer public appearances this year compared with last year, which indicates that Kim has "successfully grabbed power."
In 2013, Kim appeared in public 244 times, and in the next two years 177 and 160 times. The North Korean leader has made 51 public appearances this year.
Regarding Pyongyang's rejection of South Korean civic and religious groups' bids to resume exchanges, the NIS said it is seeing a war of nerves with the new government, which is likely to last.
It also said North Korea is holding six South Koreans and four people of Korean descent.
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