In Trump and Kim Jong Un We Trust?



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The recent publication of polls shows interesting changes in South Korean attitudes towards North Korea, the denuclearization talks, US President Donald Trump. and other leaders in the region. Overall, the data show that ordinary South Koreans have a positive perception of recent events and an optimistic vision going forward

The Public Opinion Research Program Asan Institute conducted the surveys and analyzed the data. – The summit of North Korea and the perceptions of South Koreans by South Koreans. "The data shows that Kim Jong Un's and Donald Trump's favorability ratings have increased significantly since the Singapore summit." In the report, Kim's sympathy rating was measured at 4.06 points (on a scale of 0). at 10), up from 0.88 last November and 2.02 points in March, while Trump had the highest individual score at 5.16 points versus 3.76 in Both Trump and Kim were considered more favorably than Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2.04) or Chinese President Xi Jinping (3.89).

The numbers for the sympathy of individual leaders also followed the perception of their The United States stood at 5.97 points, North Korea was 4.71, while China and Japan were 4.16 and 3.55 respectively, and it is interesting to note that Is the first time since the beginning of the survey in neighboring countries that the in North Korea exceeds 4 points, exceeding for the first time the popularity of China and exceeding for the first time in four years Japan. Moreover, even among the most conservative South Korean, known for their hard line and often uncompromising towards Pyongyang, North Korea is at 4.32 points.

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Regarding the June 12 summit, 71.8% of respondents said that the summit had produced results; 21.5% answered no. Perception of the prospects for North Korean denuclearization has also changed. In March, 23.7% said it was impossible. Only 10.2% said it in the recent survey. In addition, from March to July, the deadline for denuclearization was reduced from 10.9 years to 6.5. As the report points out, such optimism is probably the result of increased confidence. Six out of ten respondents predicted that Pyongyang would apply the agreement (ie Kim-Trump's joint statement), with 54% of respondents saying that Pyongyang was trustworthy, compared to only 10, 7% in the 2013 survey. Alternatively, the number of people who said that Pyongyang could not trust went from 85.1% in 2013 to 43.5% in 2018.

However, the The fact that younger respondents have a less optimistic view of events is significant. For South Koreans in their 20s, North Korea (3.95) and Kim Jong Un's ratings of sympathy (3) were well below average. In addition, 51.9% of respondents were in agreement with the decision to stop ROK-US. military exercises, only 39.1% of young people were in agreement. As my previous analysis shows, the younger cohort in South Korea has relatively conservative or radical views of Pyongyang, mainly because of the nature of their formative experiences that have grown in the shadows. of the nuclear crisis and North Korean provocations. to take away? The perception of things is positive (and that's good), but public opinion is inconsistent. It's fickle in South Korea as elsewhere. Rather than reflecting worldviews or substantial values, recent polls indicate that South Koreans (as most people are accustomed to doing) have reacted in the moment to important events. The implication being that a change in conditions could easily lead to a change in perception.

Steven Denney, graduate at the Asian Institute and Ph.D. The candidate from the University of Toronto summed this up well when he observed : "The attitudes like these (they are not values) are volatile, sensitive to sudden fluctuations and period effects. Surveys showing Koreans are more confident about NK or view them more favorably as indicating that political attitudes are strongly influenced by national (and international) policies. Denney cited earlier data from the East Asian Institute (EAI). In 2005, during the Sunshine Policy, 83% of South Koreans surveyed said that they described North Korea as "brother" or "one of us". In 2015, near the end of a decade of conservative reign

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