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Staff Reporter
A recent poll found Koreans have become more friendly toward the U.S., while turning hard-lined to North Korea.
According to a survey of 1,000 people by the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, 68.1 percent of the respondents perceived the Korea-U.S. alliance as important and should be preserved or strengthened in the future.
In 2002, 56.4 percent has this view, indicating the number of Koreans thinking relations with the U.S. are important has increased.
The respondents also said the government should reduce economic assistance to North Korea as the engagement policy has failed to change it.
About 68.8 percent said economic assistance to the North should be either reduced or stopped.
This is an increase of 9.7 percentage points from the 59.1 percent in 2002.
Some 12.8 percent of respondents said bilateral relations with the U.S. should be strengthened in the future _ double the 6.3 percent in 2002 _ while 55.3 percent said the government should maintain its bilateral alliance with the U.S., up 4.3 percentage points from 2002.
People who answered Korea should look to other countries for diplomatic ties instead of the U.S. stood at 22.9 percent, down from 2002’s 31.8 percent.
The rate of people conceiving that Korea should keep its distance from the U.S. has also decreased by 2.8 percentage points.
Meanwhile the survey found the rate of Koreans expressing compassion toward the North has dropped from 2002.
About half of respondents _ 49.6 percent _ said economic assistance to the North should be decreased in the future, up from 44.1 percent in 2002.
The poll also found a growing number of respondents want economic assistance to the North halted.
The poll was conducted on June 2, 2007 and has 3.1 plus or minus percent of the margin of error.
hkang@koreatimes.co.kr
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