Panmunjom Declaration National Assembly Ratification, Support 41.4% vs Opposition 31.1%

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Public opinion in favor of the ruling party and government’s proposal to ratify the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration in the National Assembly has surpassed opposition opinion beyond the margin of error.

According to Realmeter’s survey commissioned by YTN’s 'The News' on the 12th, the proportion of respondents who agreed with ratification of the Panmunjom Declaration in the National Assembly, citing reasons such as establishing institutional grounds for improving inter-Korean relations, was 41.4%. Those opposing ratification, citing reasons such as requiring North Korea’s denuclearization first and budget expenditures, accounted for 31.1%, the agency announced on the 15th. Respondents who answered 'don’t know' accounted for 27.5%.

By region, support was predominant in most areas except Daegu·Gyeongbuk (TK) and Busan·Ulsan·Gyeongnam (PK). Gwangju·Jeolla showed the highest support at 58.9%, followed by Daejeon·Sejong·Chungcheong (50.7%), Seoul (42.8%), and Gyeonggi·Incheon (42.0%). On the other hand, opposition responses were 47.4% in Busan·Ulsan·Gyeongnam and 39.2% in Daegu·Gyeongbuk.

By age group, those in their 40s (54.5%), 50s (48.6%), and 30s (43.8%) showed more support. In the 60s age group, support and opposition were nearly even at 34.6% and 36.9%, respectively. Among those in their 20s and those aged 70 and above, 'don’t know' responses exceeded 30%, higher than both support and opposition.

By political party support, the Open Democratic Party supporters showed 75.8% in favor, and Democratic Party supporters 64.2% in favor, while the United Future Party supporters showed 66.7% opposition.

By ideological inclination, 61.6% of progressives agreed with support, while 55.9% of conservatives agreed with opposition. Moderates were evenly split with 41% support and 37% opposition.

The survey contacted 10,881 adults nationwide aged 18 and over, with a final 500 respondents completing the survey, recording a response rate of 4.6%. The sampling error is ±4.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

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