Over 63% of S. Korean students view N. Korea with caution, animosity: poll
Tourists use telescopes to observe North Korea's North Hwanghae Province from an observation deck at Mount Odu in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Jan. 4, 2024. Korea Times photo by Choi Ju-yeon
More than 6 out of 10 students from elementary to high schools in South Korea view North Korea as an adversary that warrants caution and animosity, a poll released by the unification ministry showed Friday.
In the poll, 48.2 percent of elementary to high school students responded that North Korea is an adversary that warrants caution, while another 15 percent said the country deserves animosity.
Only 27.8 percent responded North Korea is a partner for cooperation, while 6.5 percent viewed it as a country in need of assistance.
The unification ministry, along with the education ministry, surveyed 74,288 students from 775 elementary, middle and high schools across the country from Oct. 21-Nov. 15 to examine school education on unification issues.
In a similar survey in 2021, a combined 60.6 percent viewed North Korea as a country warranting cooperation or assistance, while only 34.8 percent saw it as an adversary requiring caution or animosity.
In last year's survey, 75.8 percent said the current inter-Korean relations were "not peaceful," while only 4.6 percent viewed them as peaceful.
Those who said unification is "necessary" reached 47.6 percent last year, down 13.6 percentage points from 2021, while those viewing it as "unnecessary" rose to 42.3 percent from 25 percent.
Eradicating the risk of war was the most frequently cited reason among those who said unification is necessary, while those opposed cited potential problems caused by unification as their main reason.
The poll has a 95 percent confidence level, with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.36 percentage point. (Yonhap)