y Kim Young-jin

Despite huge international interest in North Korea’s April 13th long-range rocket launch, most in the South believed the move would not impact the situation on the peninsula, data showed Monday.

In a poll by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul taken days after the launch, 56 percent of respondents said the move would not change cross-border relations. Some 37 percent said it would worsen the situation.

Analysts say many in the South have grown accustomed to the North’s provocations, which Pyongyang has used in the past to sway public opinion here.

The failed launch, which the North said was intended to put a satellite into orbit for peaceful purposes, was seen as a ballistic missile test and closely watched in the international media.

Satellite imagery now shows Pyongyang making preparations for a third nuclear test at a site in the northwest of the country, though it remains to be seen if and when it will carry out the move, which has already drawn heavy criticism.

Tensions between the sides have been high since 2008, when the Lee Myung-bak administration ended a decade of engagement and aid tied to denuclearization steps. They soared in 2010 following two deadly provocations by Pyongyang.

Despite the provocative behavior, the public has begun supporting a more flexible line on the North, with the consensus that the hard-line policy contributed to the attacks.

The AIPS poll showed that while the majority of South Koreans (55.8 percent) oppose North-bound aid in the form of food and fertilizer, a sizable amount (40.7 percent) still support it.

The launch earned North Korea a tough U.N. Security Council statement deploring the act, which calls for the strengthening of sanctions against the country.

Many analysts suspect the North has ratcheted up its recalcitrance in order to bolster the power of its young leader, Kim Jong-un, who is taking power after the death of his father Kim Jong-il.

Last week, the North’s military said it would soon take “special actions” targeting the Lee Myung-bak administration and some media, in what was seen by some as a move to divert attention away from the failed launch.

The Unha-3 rocket broke into pieces shortly after liftoff and fell into waters off the west coast.