North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his South Korean counterpart Kim Dae-jung give peace a chance in 2000. File Photo by EPA
Dec. 30 (Asia Today) — More than half of German respondents said they would recommend unification of the Korean Peninsula, drawing on their own country’s experience with reunification, according to a new international survey released Tuesday.
The findings came from the 2025 Global Unification Awareness Survey conducted by the Institute for Unification Studies, which polled 1,000 respondents in each of eight countries.
Among German respondents, 62.2% answered positively when asked whether they would recommend Korean unification based on Germany’s reunification experience. Of those, 17.9% said they “strongly agree,” while 44.3% said they “somewhat agree.”
When asked about the necessity of Korean unification, 55.4% of Germans responded positively. However, only 29.9% said they believe inter-Korean unification is realistically possible, highlighting a significant gap between perceived necessity and feasibility.
A similar pattern appeared in the United States, where 55.6% viewed unification as necessary but only 27.2% believed it was achievable. In Japan, just 29.3% said unification was necessary, and only 13.4% viewed it as possible.
The institute said the results show a consistent divide between recognition of unification’s importance and skepticism about its prospects. It noted that Germany, as a country that has already experienced national reunification, showed a higher perception of necessity than other surveyed nations.
Regarding Japan’s particularly low assessment of the need for Korean unification, the institute said the view appears to stem from a belief that unification would not benefit Japan. It added that, because support from neighboring countries is essential, Seoul should strengthen public diplomacy efforts aimed at improving Japanese perceptions.
On perceptions of North Korea’s nuclear program, Japanese respondents expressed the highest level of concern. A total of 81.5% of Japanese respondents said North Korea’s nuclear weapons pose a serious threat to peace, followed by Americans at 72.9% and Mongolians at 66.5%.
The institute said countries directly affected by North Korea’s nuclear issue – including Japan, the United States and Mongolia – tend to show heightened threat awareness.
Asked about Pyongyang’s motives for developing nuclear weapons, respondents most commonly viewed them as intended for offensive purposes. That perception was strongest in Japan at 71.8%, followed by the United States at 70.9% and Sweden at 70.2%. Excluding Mongolia, only about 20% to 30% of respondents in most countries viewed North Korea’s nuclear program as primarily defensive.
On preferred approaches to denuclearization, 74.6% across all eight countries favored diplomatic negotiations. Support for economic measures such as sanctions stood at 67.7%, while 48.2% supported military options.
The survey also examined national images of the two Koreas. South Korea was generally viewed as a country associated with trust and cooperation, while North Korea was widely perceived as a source of threat and distrust. Japan, however, showed low levels of trust toward both Koreas.
The annual survey was conducted online from Aug. 11 to 18 in Germany, Mongolia, the United States, Sweden, Italy, Japan, Canada and Poland.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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