A
national survey of elementary, middle, and high school students and teachers in
South Korea, released on August 27th, revealed that four in ten people cite
military threats posed by the North as the main obstacle hindering unification.
The “Unification Education Poll,” a joint effort by the Education and Unification Ministries and conducted from June 23rd to July 11th, targeted 116,000
students and 3,130 instructors from schools across the nation. 81% of these
schools incorporate the Unification Education Program, a government initiative started in 2008, into the curriculum.
38.4%
of the group surveyed cited the military threat of North Korea as the chief hindrance
to unification, while 27.9% mentioned the economic divide between the Koreas as
the main obstacle to overcome.
Over
half of the respondents agreed that unification is necessary, 71% of that sampling
comprised of elementary school students. 19.7%, however, deemed unification as
unessential to the future of the Korean peninsula.
Instability
and the threat of war were mostly commonly referenced as reasons unification is
necessary, followed by building up power and unity among the nation’s people.
Economic burden and disruption to society accounted for 45.4% of those opposed;
only 7.7% expressed concern over potential cultural differences between North
and South.
45.7%
answered that unification would bring about positive social changes while 34.1%
felt that life would be more difficult; 18.3% felt that it would parallel the
current situation. As to when unification would occur, 31% felt that unification
would take place in 20 years, while 29.8% estimated the figure to be approximately
10-20 years in the future.
Impressions
of the North were divided: 48.8% of the group considered North Korea to be a
cooperative partner, 26.3% viewed them as an aid recipient, and 14.5% regarded them
as an enemy. Almost 40% wished to learn more about life inside North Korea
through the Unification Education Program, bolstering the program’s overall
efficacy.
The
poll had a 95% confidence level with a sampling error of plus or minus 0.28%
for students and plus or minus 1.75% for teachers.
