By Choi Sung-jin
The share of South Koreans satisfied with President Park Geun-hye's policy on North Korea has declined from last year, falling below 50 percent for the first time, a survey says.
Only 45.1 percent of respondents expressed satisfaction with the Park administration's North Korea policy, according to the unification consciousness survey by the Seoul National University's Unification and Peace Institute.
That represented a drop of 5.3 percentage points from 50.4 percent last year, and fell below 50 percent for the first time since Park took office three and half years ago.
By age, the satisfaction rate rose only among 50-something respondents, by 0.6 of a percentage point. The rate for all other age groups declined, with 30-something people showing the biggest drop of 10.8 percentage points. By ideological inclination, the rate of satisfaction slid a hefty 11 percentage points among conservative respondents.
"Chances are high South Koreans felt a deepening fatigue with the government's pressurizing policy against the North amid the prolonged sense of crisis stemming from the reclusive regime's repeated nuclear and missile provocations," said Professor Kim Byung-ro at the institute.
In the opinion poll, held between the North's fourth (Jan. 6) and fifth (Sept. 9) nuclear tests, also noticeable was a slight increase in positive perception of the recalcitrant regime among South Koreans.
When asked whether North Korea is likely to make armed provocations, 66.1 percent said "yes," down from 70.5 percent last year. As to whether North Korea is a partner with which dialogue and compromise is possible, 30.5 percent made positive replies, up from 28.7 percent last year. The share of respondents who said they felt threatened by North Korea's nuclear weapons also fell from 84 percent to 79.5 percent.
Negative opinions about cooperation and exchanges with North Korea increased, though. The portion of respondents who thought inter-Korean economic cooperation helps the North to reform and open up fell from 60 percent to 58.2 percent. The portion of respondents who said Seoul should reopen the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and resume South Koreans' tours to Mt. Geumgang in the North also dropped from 49.8 percent and 55 percent to 47 percent and 50.4 percent, respectively.
The respondents who approved of South Korea's possession of nuclear weapons dropped 3 percentage points to 52.8 percent, the survey showed. By age, people aged 60 or older showed the highest approval rate of 60.8 percent, while those aged 20 or younger marked the lowest at 44.8 percent. The higher educational and income levels were, the lower the rate of support for possession of nuclear weapons.
The institute asked Gallup Korea to conduct the survey of 1,200 people aged 19-74 in July through individual interviews. It has a confidence level of 95 percent, with sampling errors of plus or minus 2.8 percent.
The share of South Koreans satisfied with President Park Geun-hye's policy on North Korea has declined from last year, falling below 50 percent for the first time, a survey says.
Only 45.1 percent of respondents expressed satisfaction with the Park administration's North Korea policy, according to the unification consciousness survey by the Seoul National University's Unification and Peace Institute.
That represented a drop of 5.3 percentage points from 50.4 percent last year, and fell below 50 percent for the first time since Park took office three and half years ago.
By age, the satisfaction rate rose only among 50-something respondents, by 0.6 of a percentage point. The rate for all other age groups declined, with 30-something people showing the biggest drop of 10.8 percentage points. By ideological inclination, the rate of satisfaction slid a hefty 11 percentage points among conservative respondents.
"Chances are high South Koreans felt a deepening fatigue with the government's pressurizing policy against the North amid the prolonged sense of crisis stemming from the reclusive regime's repeated nuclear and missile provocations," said Professor Kim Byung-ro at the institute.
In the opinion poll, held between the North's fourth (Jan. 6) and fifth (Sept. 9) nuclear tests, also noticeable was a slight increase in positive perception of the recalcitrant regime among South Koreans.
When asked whether North Korea is likely to make armed provocations, 66.1 percent said "yes," down from 70.5 percent last year. As to whether North Korea is a partner with which dialogue and compromise is possible, 30.5 percent made positive replies, up from 28.7 percent last year. The share of respondents who said they felt threatened by North Korea's nuclear weapons also fell from 84 percent to 79.5 percent.
Negative opinions about cooperation and exchanges with North Korea increased, though. The portion of respondents who thought inter-Korean economic cooperation helps the North to reform and open up fell from 60 percent to 58.2 percent. The portion of respondents who said Seoul should reopen the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and resume South Koreans' tours to Mt. Geumgang in the North also dropped from 49.8 percent and 55 percent to 47 percent and 50.4 percent, respectively.
The respondents who approved of South Korea's possession of nuclear weapons dropped 3 percentage points to 52.8 percent, the survey showed. By age, people aged 60 or older showed the highest approval rate of 60.8 percent, while those aged 20 or younger marked the lowest at 44.8 percent. The higher educational and income levels were, the lower the rate of support for possession of nuclear weapons.
The institute asked Gallup Korea to conduct the survey of 1,200 people aged 19-74 in July through individual interviews. It has a confidence level of 95 percent, with sampling errors of plus or minus 2.8 percent.
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