68% of S. Koreans say unification is necessary: survey
Vehicles cross the Unification Bridge in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday. Yonhap
Nearly 70 percent of South Koreans believe unification with North Korea remains necessary, while about half of people here doubt North Korea will resume talks with the United States, a survey showed Sunday.
The survey, commissioned by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, a presidential advisory body on unification issues, showed that 68.6 percent of respondents said unification is either "very necessary" or "quite necessary."
Of the 1,000 respondents surveyed, aged 19 or over, 30.4 percent said they do not see the need for unification, with about 1 percent giving no answer.
Thirty-one percent of those surveyed said they support unification to alleviate the threat of war, with 29.4 percent citing economic development, 14.4 percent the need to restore ethnic homogeneity, and 12.3 percent saying unification is necessary to realize the freedom and human rights of North Koreans.
On the possibility of North Korea reengaging the U.S. for talks, 49.1 percent saw the chances as slim, compared with 46.8 percent who said it was quite likely to happen.
More than 60 percent of respondents chose the U.S. as the country having the biggest influence over unification, followed by China at 28.3 percent, Russia at 3.7 percent and Japan at 2.4 percent, the survey showed.
The survey found that 47.3 percent of respondents view North Korea as a country South Korea should cooperate with and support, compared with 40.8 percent who see Pyongyang as a state that should be approached with caution and treated with hostility when necessary.
When asked about South Korea's security situation, 49.7 percent described it as "stable," while 49.3 percent said it was "unstable."
Nearly 36 percent of respondents said easing military tensions should be the top priority for the two Koreas to move toward reconciliation and improve the hostile atmosphere.
The survey was conducted from Sept. 12-14 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.