By Yi Whan-woo
More than half of South Koreans want the government to cover the expenses for North Korean athletes and their supporters if they participate in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, according to a survey released Monday.
In a Realmeter poll conducted Friday, 54.4 percent of respondents said they support the idea of using taxpayer money to cover the costs for the North Korean Olympic delegation during its stay here.
Some 41.4 percent said they were against it, while the remaining 4.2 percent said they “were not sure.”
The survey of 505 adults nationwide had a 4.4 percent margin of error.
The results come ahead of high-level talks between the two Koreas today to discuss North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics as suggested by its leader Kim Jong-un last week.
Among the 54.4 percent that responded favorably, 24.5 percent were “very supportive of” paying the costs for the North Korean athletes and their supporters and the remaining 29.9 percent were “generally supportive.”
Of the opposition, 20.1 percent of them were “strongly against” such an idea and the remaining 21.3 percent were “generally against” it.
Among those who categorized themselves as liberals, 71.5 percent of them said “yes” to financial support for Pyongyang’s Olympics team while the other 24.8 percent said “no.”
A total of 37.3 percent among conservative respondents said “yes” to covering the expenses for the North Korean visitors while the remainder said “no.”
Some 78.8 percent of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) supporters and 68.1 percent of the far-left Justice Party supporters wanted the government to bear the costs.
Meanwhile, a total of 79.1 percent of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) said “no” to using taxpayer money for the North Korean delegation, while 52.5 percent of the Bareun Party supporters and 55.6 percent of the People’s Party supporters responded the same.
In each of the country’s major regions, more than half of the people welcomed the idea of paying the costs for the Pyongyang athletes.
Gwangju and Jeolla provinces combined had 67.7 percent support; Seoul had 58 percent; Gyeonggi Province and Incheon combined, 56.6 percent support; and Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province combined with 55.3 percent.
By age groups, those aged between 30 and 50 responded most favorably.
A total of 63.6 percent of those in their 40s wanted to cover the costs for the Pyongyang delegates, while 58.5 percent in their 30s and 53.3 percent of those in their 50s answered the same.
Among those who were aged 60s or older, 48.1 percent of them said “yes” to the financial support, with 45.1 percent saying “no.”
Among those in their 20s, 49.7 percent said “yes” while 45.7 percent said “no.”