A new international survey suggests that apart from South Koreans, Americans and Australians feel more threatened by North Korea's nuclear program than Japanese people.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a U.S. think tank, released on Wednesday the results of a survey conducted jointly by research institutes in five countries.

According to the survey, 68 percent of the South Koreans polled said the North Korean nuclear issue is a critical matter, while 29 percent said it is important, but not critical.

Among the surveyed Americans, 60 percent called the problem a critical one, while 35 percent called it important, but not critical. The respective proportions of Australians were 42 percent and 38 percent.

Among the Japanese respondents, the percentages were 40 and 31 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, 70 percent of Americans agreed on the necessity to station U.S. forces in South Korea for the long haul, compared with 68 percent of South Koreans.

Research institutes in South Korea, China, Canada, Japan and Australia participated in the joint survey.

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