Public support for unification between the two Koreas dips below 50% for 1st time: Poll

SEOUL – Public support for Korean unification has dropped to a record low of 49 per cent, falling below a majority for the first time since the survey began in 2014, suggesting growing indifference toward North Korea, the poll showed.

The government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification (Kinu) on Oct 20 released the results of its annual public opinion survey on unification and North Korea, which it has conducted each year since 2014.

The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults aged 18 and older nationwide from July 10 to Aug 13.

When asked, “To what extent do you think unification is necessary?” 49 per cent of respondents said it was necessary – the lowest level since the survey began, down 3.8 percentage points from 52.8 per cent in 2024.

“This appears to result from the interplay of various factors, including the influence of North Korea’s narratives on two hostile states, the prolonged severance of inter-Korean relations and domestic political dynamics,” Kinu said in its report on the survey.

“These results suggest that perceptions of unification have entered a structural phase of change, moving beyond short-term fluctuations.”

Kinu also noted that “a decline in the perceived need for unification was observed across all generations”.

In the survey, 63.2 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement “Unification is unnecessary as long as the two Koreas can peacefully coexist”. This is the highest level since Kinu first introduced the question in its 2016 survey.

Meanwhile, 19.6 per cent gave a neutral response, and 17.2 per cent disagreed.

Public apathy towards North peaks

Along with decreasing interest in unification, public indifference towards North Korea itself has also grown.

When asked: “How interested are you in North Korea?”, 68.1 per cent of respondents said they were not interested, the highest level since 2015.

Kinu explained that public apathy has steadily increased over the past decade, rising from 50.8 per cent in 2015.

“The results show that public indifference toward North Korea has continued to grow, largely regardless of whether inter-Korean relations were good or bad,” the research institute said. It added that this trend contrasts with responses to other questions that were affected by the ups and downs in inter-Korean ties from 2015 to 2025.

“This trend can be viewed as part of the same context in which public opinion on the necessity of unification continues to decline,” it added.

More Koreans turn against aid

In the poll, opposition to providing humanitarian aid to North Korea rose sharply compared with previous years.

When asked whether humanitarian assistance to North Korea should continue, 39.5 per cent of respondents said they disagreed – up from 27.6 per cent in 2021, 34 per cent in 2022, 33.7 per cent in 2023 and 33.3 per cent in 2024.

The survey showed that negative views have now outnumbered positive ones, with support for humanitarian aid standing at 36.8 per cent in 2025. It is also the first time that opposition has exceeded support since 2017, when inter-Korean tensions reached their peak in the aftermath of Pyongyang’s two nuclear tests in 2016.

“News about North Korea’s food shortages and other related issues has become less frequent, as China and Russia have effectively withdrawn from economic sanctions against North Korea and its economic situation has improved,” Kinu said.

“Consequently, the perception that North Korea, as before, lacks food or medicine appears to have diminished.”

Partisan divide over Kaesong reopening

Public opposition to reopening the

now-shuttered inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex

– a flagship economic cooperation project between the two Koreas – has also reached its highest level since 2016.

In response to the question: “Should the Kaesong Industrial Complex be reopened?”, 44.6 per cent said they opposed the idea, while 36.2 per cent expressed support.

Opposition continued to grow compared with surveys from 2021 and 2022, when 24.6 per cent and 30.4 per cent of respondents opposed reopening the complex.

“The survey found significant differences in attitudes toward the (reopening) of the Kaesong Industrial Complex... depending on the political party one supports,” the Kinu said.

Among respondents who identified with the ruling Democratic Party, 49.1 per cent supported the complex’s reopening, while only 26.1 per cent of the main opposition People Power Party supporters were in favour.

“Therefore, if efforts were made to resume operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex through inter-Korean agreements, this could potentially become a source of partisan conflict,” the institute added.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK