Anchor: June 15th marks the 20th anniversary of the historic inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, which paved the way for landmark rapprochement efforts. But the anniversary takes place this year amid a sharp escalation in tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with North Korea threatening to retaliate against anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns by South Korean activist groups. KBS conducted a survey on the latest views of South Koreans regarding cross-border issues.
Choi You Sun reports.
Report: KBS surveyed one-thousand adults nationwide on Monday about how they feel about anti-North Korea leaflet campaigns by South Korean activist groups that have drawn fierce protests from Pyongyang. The survey showed almost seven out of every ten South Koreans were against them.
Sixty-point-six percent of respondents said the campaigns should be halted as they threaten the safety of border area residents and hamper efforts to enhance inter-Korean cooperation.
Thirty-nine-point-four percent said such activities should continue, in order to guarantee freedom of expression and provide valuable information about the outside world to North Koreans.
Nearly 70 percent said cross-border cooperation should continue as long as it does not infringe on United Nations sanctions, while over 50 percent supported South Korea's sanctions against North Korea's torpedo attack on the Cheonan corvette in 2010.
More than half of all South Koreans said North Korea's sincerity in dismantling its weapons of mass destruction is a key factor in resolving the nuclear impasse. But South Koreans were divided when it comes to their views on the effectiveness of UN sanctions. Fifty-point-three percent said sanctions were working, while 49-point-seven percent said they weren't very effective.
Sixty-one-point-one percent of South Koreans believed sanctions should be eased somewhat in order to break the stalemated denuclearization talks between the U.S. and North Korea. But 63-point-two percent of South Koreans were pessimistic about prospects of resolving the nuclear impasse.
The survey, conducted between June 5 and 9, had a confidence level of 95 percent with a margin of error of plus or minus three-point-one percentage points.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.