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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, poses with his sister and special envoy Kim Yo-jong after her return from her trip to South Korea. She delivered her brother's proposal for an inter-Korean summit to President Moon Jae-in. / Yonhap |
By Oh Young-jin
Six in 10 South Koreans favored holding an inter-Korean summit, a recent opinion poll showed.
The survey of 500 people by pollster Realmeter for tbs radio Wednesday showed 61.5 percent approved of the summit as a starting point for establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Another 31.5 percent backed the view that pressure and sanctions should be given a priority so opposed the summit. "Don't know" responses accounted for 7.3 percent.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un proposed a summit to President Moon Jae-in through his sister and special envoy Kim Yo-jong who made a surprise visit to attend the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympic Games.
Moon gave his conditional consent to the proposal, taking into consideration U.S. President Donald Trump's tough stance on the North. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence even refused to exchange greetings with North Korean delegates at the PyeongChang opening ceremony.
The two Koreas have held two summits so far _ the first in 2000 and the second in 2007.
Meanwhile, Moon's approval rating dropped 0.4 percentage points on a week-to-week comparison to 63.1 percent in a survey early this week.