By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
North Korea has received the third lowest approval from people in 21 countries around the world, following Pakistan and Iran, a new BBC World Service poll said Tuesday.
Critics speculated that the negative global attitude resulted from the secretive state's lack of cooperation in resolving nuclear issues.
More than 13,000 people were interviewed by telephone for the survey, as part of the British broadcaster's annual survey of world opinion.
In the poll, North Korea garnered rather negative views from 48 percent of respondents, up 2 percentage points from last year, while positive views reached only 20 percent, down 2 percentage points.
Japan had the harshest stance toward the Stalinist regime.
More than 90 percent of Japanese respondents had a negative view of the country, Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland, was quoted as saying by the Voice of America.
Japan has several issues to settle with North Korea, such as the abduction of its citizens.
According to unofficial statistics, nearly 100 Japanese nationals were abducted by North Korean agents between 1970 and 1980, but North Korea has officially admitted to kidnapping only 13.
Kull also stated that North Korea's uncooperative attitude regarding the nuclear issue last year seemingly contributed to the overall negative views.
Despite a denuclearization pledge in 2007, Pyongyang refused to allow U.S. experts to collect nuclear samples as part of a program to verify this.
Instead, it launched harsher rhetoric against Seoul and Washington and recently threatened to test-fire a missile.
In China, a long-time ally of North Korea, negative views rose to 44 percent from 32, while positive views dropped from 47 percent to 42.
In the survey, Pakistan and Iran received the lowest approval, with positive views from 17 percent of respondents.
Meanwhile, Germany gained the most positive views, from 61 percent of respondents, followed by Canada, with 57 percent.
Results have a margin of error ranging from minus 2.4 percent to 4.4 percent depending on the country.