S. Koreans see Kim Jong图片展示
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S. Koreans see Kim Jong详情
By Lee Min-hyung
South Koreans perceive North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as more likeable than Chinese President Xi Jinping or Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, research showed Thursday.
Their favorable sentiment toward North Korea has hit an all-time high, following the rapprochement along with the inter-Korean and the Washington-Pyongyang summits.
According to a study by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, the level of favorable impressions of Kim reached 4.06 on a scale of zero to 10. It was a drastic hike as his score used to be around 1 beginning 2013 when the institute started the survey, and remained below 1 throughout 2017.
Kim's impression level was higher than Xi's 3.89 and Abe's 2.04. The score for U.S. President Donald Trump was 5.16, also a large increase as it was less than 4 until the end of 2017.
The level of favorable impressions of North Korea as a country also hit a record high of 4.71. That of China, Japan and the U.S. was 4.16, 3.55 and 5.97, respectively.
The institute explained the historic Trump-Kim summit last month helped improve the image of the North Korean regime, as more than 54 percent of the respondents said they could trust the North, up from 10.7 percent in 2013.
"This is because many South Koreans have put special significance on the fact that the two leaders of the seven decades-long foes discussed peace and denuclearization during the summit," the report said.
The symbolic meeting itself gave a more favorable impression to people here rather than what they agreed during the summit, the report said.
It also said most South Koreans generally maintain a positive viewpoint of the ongoing inter-Korean affairs, but the level of confidence was different by age groups. In particular, those in their 20s showed relatively less trust in North Korea and Kim.
The government, therefore, needs to try to improve the younger generation's perception of Pyongyang, according to the report. "It needs to induce them to let down their guard against North Korea and build more trust through more human exchanges and sports and cultural activities."
Most respondents of the poll were also optimistic over inter-Korean and Washington-Pyongyang relations in future.
More than 83 percent said relations between the two Koreas will improve down the road, and in general, they supported President Moon Jae-in's North Korea policies.
About 72 percent also said the Trump-Kim summit "paid off," because they agreed on the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula while the North's repeated nuclear threats have remained a bone of contention between Washington and Pyongyang for decades.
Regarding the timeline of the denuclearization, South Koreans believe it would be a "time-consuming task."
"The respondents viewed it will take 6.5 years on average for the regime to denuclearize itself," the report said. "South Koreans still believe a considerable amount of time will be required toward the move, as the North's nuclear issues are a complex problem that has lasted for more than two decades."
The survey was conducted for three days from June 18 on 1,000 people over the age of 19. The poll has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.