Four out of 10 Koreans see China as the biggest threat to Seoul's national security in the future, a survey showed Thursday.
According to the telephone survey of 1,032 South Korean adults aged 19 or older, 40.9 percent cited China as the biggest threat to Seoul's national security 10 years from now, followed by 21 percent pointing to North Korea and 20 percent Japan.
The survey was conducted last month by polling agency The Plan Korea at the request of Rep. In Jae-keun of the main opposition Democratic United Party. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Asked who poses the greatest threat to the country's national security currently, 37.8 percent cited North Korea, followed by Japan with 27.8 percent, China with 18.3 percent and the United States with 6.6 percent, the survey showed.
China ranked first as "the most likely country to serve as a stumbling block to the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula in the future," according to the survey.
Some 40 percent of the respondents said Seoul's diplomacy and security environments "deteriorated" under the current Lee Myung-bak government, followed by 36.2 percent saying they were "unchanged" and 13.5 percent opining that they had "improved," it showed. (Yonhap)