A majority of South Koreans support their government's
North Korea policy of reconciliation and cooperation and maintain positive views
on the way it is being pursued, according to a public opinion survey released
last week by the Ministry of Unification.
The ministry commissioned Research and Research, a
polling company, to survey 1,500 Koreans aged 20 or over nationwide June 11-12
on the occasion of the second anniversary of the South-North Joint Declaration
of June 15, 2000 between South and North Korea.
The survey found that 73.0 percent of the respondents
endorsed the government's policy of reconciliation and cooperation and 64.5
percent approved of the way the government was implementing the
policy.
Some 59.3 percent of those queried cited the reunion of
separated families as the most remarkable development since the inter-Korean
joint declaration two years ago and 34.8 percent responded that the most urgent
issue was the problem of separated families, when the two Koreas would resume
dialogue.
As for the level of the South's support toward the North,
two-thirds (66.1 percent) of the respondents said the current level or more was
necessary, indicating that a national consensus existed on North Korean
assistance. |
