Moon Administration's North Korea Policy Direction... 'Hardline' 36% · 'Current' 28% · 'Conciliatory' 25%

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] In a public opinion survey on the Moon Jae-in administration's New Year policy direction toward North Korea, the opinion that a 'hardline approach' should be pursued was found to be the highest.

Realmeter announced on the 6th that, in a survey conducted on the 3rd at the request of YTN's "The News" asking about the government’s policy direction to promote North Korea’s denuclearization and progress in inter-Korean relations, 36.1% responded that a 'hardline approach such as re-strengthening the reduced South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises' should be pursued.

Following that, 28.1% said to 'maintain the current North Korea policy and wait for North Korea’s changes (maintain current stance),' and 25.3% said to 'pursue a conciliatory approach such as easing sanctions related to North Korea’s livelihood and economy.'

The 'hardline approach' response was the majority or plurality in regions such as Daegu-Gyeongbuk (60.0%) and Daejeon-Sejong-Chungcheong (45.6%), Seoul (43.8%), age groups 60 and older (38.4%) and 50s (36.6%), ideological groups conservatives (58.8%) and moderates (39.9%), and by party support, Liberty Korea Party supporters (72.0%) and non-affiliated voters (51.6%).

The 'maintain current stance' response was over half among Justice Party supporters (54.4%), and the 'conciliatory approach' response was highest in Gwangju-Jeolla (38.7%).

In Gyeonggi-Incheon (hardline approach 29.5% vs. maintain current stance 30.0%) and Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (31.7% vs. 33.4%), as well as among people in their 30s (38.3% vs. 38.4%) and 20s (33.0% vs. 32.0%), the responses for 'hardline approach' and 'maintain current stance' were similar. Among progressives (maintain current stance 35.5% vs. conciliatory approach 39.8%) and Democratic Party supporters (40.4% vs. 42.3%), 'maintain current stance' and 'conciliatory approach' were closely matched.

Among people in their 40s (conciliatory approach 36.4% vs. hardline approach 33.2%), the 'conciliatory approach' and 'hardline approach' responses were similar.

This survey contacted 11,040 adults nationwide aged 19 and older, with a final 502 respondents completing the survey, recording a response rate of 4.5%. The sampling error is ±4.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.