Ever more South Koreans prefer peaceful co-existence with the nuclear-armed North to reunification of the peninsula, a survey found Monday.
Despite sharing a common language and ethnicity and centuries of history, North and South Korea have become radically different societies in recent decades.
Ruled with an iron grip by three generations of the Kim family, the North has turned itself into a nuclear power -- at the cost of international isolation -- while the South has embraced democracy and risen to become the world's 11th-largest economy.
The South's President Moon Jae-in regularly affirms unification as an eventual goal, but the picture in his country is far more nuanced, the survey by Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) showed.
A total of 65.9 percent of South Koreans saw unification as necessary, it said, down from 70.7 percent last year as inter-Korean engagement and nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington stall.
But when offered an alternative, 49.5 percent of Southerners favoured peaceful co-existence with the North with only 28.8 percent preferring unification, the biggest difference the survey has shown.
The differences are larger among younger people, with those in their 20s having spent their adult lives living with and sometimes threatened by a nuclear North.
If given a choice between unification and the economy, 70.5 percent put a higher priority on the economy, with just 8.3 percent backing unification.
A year ago the preferences were 60.7 and 12.8 respectively, but discontent over the South Korean economy is rising amid persistent unemployment and faltering growth.
The researchers carried out just over 1,000 face-to-face interviews last month, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump failed to reach a deal over denuclearisation and sanctions relief in Hanoi in February, and before North Korea last week carried out its first missile launches for more than a year.
Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
| Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution. |
||
| SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal |
 |
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only |
North Korea's missile tests not 'breach of trust': Trump
Washington (AFP) May 11, 2019
North Korean missile launches over the past week have not affected Donald Trump's relationship with Kim Jong Un, the US president said Friday, in a change of course after initially expressing his dissatisfaction. Pyongyang fired two short-range missiles Thursday following an earlier drill the previous Saturday - the first in 18 months. The North had not launched any missiles since November 2017, shortly before once reclusive Kim embarked on diplomatic overtures. "I don't consider that a bre ... read more
from Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense http://bit.ly/2Q2A4U0
via space News
No comments: