Only 31% of South Koreans think unification with North 'beneficial' to them

By Berk Kutay Gokmen

ISTANBUL (AA) – Only 31% of South Koreans think unifying with North Korea is in their interest, according to results of a new poll, Yonhap news reported on Tuesday.

The poll was conducted by the Korea Institute for National Unification between April and May last year involving 1,001 adults aged 18 and over.

The results showed 30.6% of respondents believe unification would be either very or somewhat beneficial to them, while only 23.5% of those born after 1991 responded the same.

While 66.4% responded that unification would be either very or somewhat beneficial to the nation, and 92.4% believe unification would benefit people of the North Korea.

In total, 52.9% of the respondents believe that unification is necessary, which is almost the same as the record low of 52.7% observed in a similar poll conducted by the institute in 2019.

"Respondents have consistently maintained the view that the country as a whole and the North Korean people would benefit from unification, while they have little to gain," the institute said about the poll results.