(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – According to a new survey, only 2 out of 10 children and young adults think that unification between South and North Korea is necessary.
This is according to the National Youth Policy Institute, which surveyed 1,392 students in middle school grades 1 to 3 and high school students in grade 1 and 2 to understand their thoughts on unification and the image they have of North Korea.
Only 19.8 percent of the student respondents said that unification was absolutely necessary, which was 11.4 percentage points lower than the results of a survey conducted 10 years ago in 2008. This year’s survey was conducted between July 3 and 20.
In the survey, more males than females said that unification between the two Koreas was necessary, while more middle students than high school students and more city dwellers than their rural counterparts approved of unification.
Moreover, students who regarded their families as being “financially advantaged” had a higher ratio of being favorable to the idea of unification, as were students who had a predilection to politics.
Of the respondents, 50.4 percent said that they “hoped unification would happen,” while 17.9 percent said “unification has nothing to do with me,” and 11.9 percent said that “things are fine the way they are now.”
To the question asking students why unification was necessary, 43.6 percent of respondents said that it would relieve the dangers of a possible war, while 21.9 percent said it would increase the level of national competitiveness, 18 percent said unification would restore a sense of homogeneity in the people, and 12.9 percent said unification would help solve the issue of separated families.
Compared to the same survey conducted 10 years ago, the number of students who thought of unification as a means of ameliorating the dangers of war grew by 23.9 percentage points, while the share of those who said it would impact national competitiveness fell by 9.6 percentage points.
Thus, the survey found that students were more concerned about the dangers of war than anything else in terms of the image they had of North Korea.
H. S. Seo (hsseo@koreabizwire.com)
