South Koreans Rarely Think About North Korea

The Moon Jae-in administration’s efforts at engagement with North Korea require public support. However, our original survey data suggests that public attention to North Korea may be lower than conventional wisdom would indicate, as less than 10 percent of respondents think of North Korea frequently. One interpretation of these findings would suggest Moon and the Democratic Party may have greater flexibility on engagement because South Korean people are more concerned with domestic politics and priorities, while the administration may need to contend with the possibility that public opinion could quickly reengage if the status quo changes or if the perceived costs outweigh perceived benefits. Another interpretation would indicate that Moon may find further difficulty selling the value of improved inter-Korean relations to a domestic audience concerned such efforts are at the expense of domestic improvements.