6 out of 10 Students Say "Unification is Necessary"

62.4% Say Unification Is Necessary... 6.9%p Increase from Last Year
North Korea as 'Cooperation Target' 54.7%, More Than Twice the 'Caution Target'
35.2% Say Inter-Korean Relations Are 'Not Peaceful'... Increasing Trend Over 3 Years

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] It was found that 6 out of 10 elementary, middle, and high school students think that unification is necessary.

On the 9th, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Unification announced the results of the '2020 School Unification Education Survey,' which showed that the percentage of respondents who answered that unification is necessary rose by 6.9 percentage points from the previous year to 62.4%. This survey was conducted in November last year with 73,851 students from elementary, middle, and high schools, 4,045 teachers, and 1,056 administrators.

Regarding the reasons why unification is necessary, 'elimination of war threats' (28.4%) was the most common, followed by 'because we are the same people' (25.5%), and 'resolving the pain of separated families' (18.5%). The proportion of respondents who answered that unification is not necessary also slightly increased, accounting for 13.7% in 2018, 19.4% in 2019, and 24.2% as of last year.

Students regard North Korea as a partner for cooperation but feel that inter-Korean relations are not peaceful. North Korea was seen as a 'partner for cooperation' by 54.7% of respondents, while 24.2% viewed it as a 'subject to be wary of.' Perceptions of peace have also worsened annually. The response 'not peaceful' was 35.2%, increasing every year since 2018 (15.5%) and rising by 1.5 percentage points compared to last year. The response 'peaceful' was only 17.6%, about half the opposing response.

Regarding obstacles to unification, 'the unchanging North Korean regime' (31.9%) was the most cited, followed by ▲military threats such as nuclear weapons (27.6%) ▲differences between South and North Korea (14.7%) ▲economic burdens (10.2%). A significant number of students said they are interested in unification. The percentage of those interested in unification was 50.5%, more than twice the 20.2% who said they were not interested.

78.6% of students answered that they had received unification education, which was similar even during the COVID-19 situation. Regarding what they learned from unification education, responses were ▲peace between South and North Korea (39.0%) ▲the lives and society of North Korean people (38.9%) ▲benefits that unification would bring (38.6%) ▲inter-Korean exchange and cooperation (32.8%) in that order.

Teachers answered that the key areas to focus on for revitalizing unification education are ▲building social consensus (86.7%) ▲developing teaching and learning materials (82.6%) ▲improving teachers' expertise (70.7%) ▲revising curricula and textbooks (67.9%) ▲and improving related laws and systems (67.5%).

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Unification stated, "We will continue efforts to revitalize school peace and unification education by actively responding to the COVID-19 era, strengthening organic cooperation with metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide, expanding non-face-to-face education, developing various teaching materials and programs, and enhancing consensus-building with the youth generation."

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