More than 60% of South Koreans support the idea of their country having its own nuclear weapons, while 15% of the country’s citizens believe the DPRK will denuclearize, a survey showed, Yonhap news agency reported on the 27th. of June.
The survey, conducted by the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), also found that 64.3 percent of respondents believed that increasing economic sanctions against the DPRK would do little to force North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
66% of respondents supported the idea that South Korea should have its own nuclear weapons unless North Korea gives up its nuclear arsenal.
The latest survey comes amid growing concerns in South Korea about deepening military ties between Russia and North Korea after both sides said they were renewing their relationship with a mutual defense treaty.
Last week’s summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang and their announcement of the treaty intensified debate in the South over whether Seoul should consider building its own nuclear option, a South Korean source said.
In the survey, 31.3% of respondents agreed that the North would not use its nuclear and missile programs to attack the South, a sharp drop from 54.9% in the 2017 survey.
More than 44% said they would prefer nuclear weapons to the continued presence of U.S. troops in South Korea. This is the first time that support for nuclear weapons exceeds support for US troops.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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