Poll: Youths Back N. Korea if Attacked

[Jeremiah]

Feb 21 11:08 PM US/Eastern
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SEOUL, South Korea

Nearly half of South Korean youths who will be old enough to vote in the country's next elections say Seoul should side with North Korea if the United States attacks the communist nation, according to a poll released Wednesday.

At the same time, 40.7 percent of the 1,000 young people surveyed said Seoul should remain neutral in the event of hostilities between Washington and Pyongyang, according to the poll by The Korea Times and Hankook Ilbo dailies. Only 11.6 percent said the South should back its longtime U.S. ally.

The poll, conducted Feb. 16-19, surveyed youths between 17 and 23 years old who will be old enough to vote in next year's presidential election. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The youths named China as South Korea's most important partner for maintaining friendly relations, at 39.5 percent, followed by the United States and North Korea at 18.4 and 18 percent, respectively.

A majority of those surveyed, 54.1 percent, said peaceful reunification was the preferred method for ending the division on the peninsula. But 35.5 percent said the status quo should be maintained if the North and South can peacefully coexist.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/21/D8FTU7HO2.html

[Flagg]

Feb 21 11:08 PM US/Eastern
Email this story

SEOUL, South Korea

Nearly half of South Korean youths who will be old enough to vote in the country's next elections say Seoul should side with North Korea if the United States attacks the communist nation, according to a poll released Wednesday.

At the same time, 40.7 percent of the 1,000 young people surveyed said Seoul should remain neutral in the event of hostilities between Washington and Pyongyang, according to the poll by The Korea Times and Hankook Ilbo dailies. Only 11.6 percent said the South should back its longtime U.S. ally.

The poll, conducted Feb. 16-19, surveyed youths between 17 and 23 years old who will be old enough to vote in next year's presidential election. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The youths named China as South Korea's most important partner for maintaining friendly relations, at 39.5 percent, followed by the United States and North Korea at 18.4 and 18 percent, respectively.

A majority of those surveyed, 54.1 percent, said peaceful reunification was the preferred method for ending the division on the peninsula. But 35.5 percent said the status quo should be maintained if the North and South can peacefully coexist.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/21/D8FTU7HO2.html

It's sounds pretty bloody horrible, but looking from THEIR perspective I can try to see their precarious position.

I hope to see North Korea and it's people see a change of government, freedom, and opportunity in my lifetime....with as little loss of life as possible....but armed conflict was necessary on the Korean Peninsula before, it may be necessary again.

South Korea is one of the most extraordinary examples of rapid economic development in human history, internet broadband penetration, for one thing, is amongst the highest in the world.

I CAN envision how younger South Koreans, not having really any direct experience with North Korea's active, and often violent, undermining of South Korea, would make a short-sighted choice of appeasement towards North Korea.

My guess is that the average young South Korean is not debating, like we often do, the geopolitics and military consequences of a conflict in Korea.

My guess is that they ARE debating how they'd all be economically destroyed by a conflict as well as the cost of reunification. I bet they spend a good bit of time talking about how costly reunification was, and still is, for Germany......and how it will be much worse for them.

IF I were South Korean, I would NOT want North Korea to fall.....I'd want Kim Il Sung to keep partying like it's 1999 because WHEN the North Korean People's Party is over, it's the South Korean people who are paying the bloody tab and suffering the hangover.

[YMan]

The article is a bit deceiving. They took the poll results out of its context, the poll question was "who would you support if the US attacked North Korean nuclear facilities without Seoul's consent".

That alone changes the poll results entirely, it brings a very good possibility of dragging a country into a war it doesn't want to be in the first place (where is the first place NK is going to attack if Yongbon was bombed?), AND a published source from the ROK Airforce says that an attack on Yongbon while its full of nuclear materials is going to render the ENTIRE Korean peninsula (north and south korea) uninhabitable for a decade at least.

[BlackRain]

This is the result of decades of creeping anti-Americanism in South Korea from the left there and a very successful North Korean PR campaign.

The North is pushing a 'reunification' with the southern brothers idea instead of the old 'workers paradise' line.

It has gotten so bad that the left wants statues of General MacArthur removed.

I say we end our protection of North Korea now and let them reunify with North Korea.

I don't think they will be happy with the violent result though.

[Apathy]

This is the result of decades of creeping anti-Americanism in South Korea from the left there and a very successful North Korean PR campaign.

The North is pushing a 'reunification' with the southern brothers idea instead of the old 'workers paradise' line.

It has gotten so bad that the left wants statues of General MacArthur removed.

I say we end our protection of North Korea now and let them reunify with North Korea.

I don't think they will be happy with the violent result though.

Hey, don't f*ck over an entire country just because of the liberals.

[mogsniper94]

Quote "IF I were South Korean, I would NOT want North Korea to fall.....I'd want Kim Il Sung to keep partying like it's 1999 because WHEN the North Korean People's Party is over, it's the South Korean people who are paying the bloody tab and suffering the hangover."

That is a very good point. They would be looking at a German re-unification scenario but way worse!

[BlackRain]

Hey, don't f*ck over an entire country just because of the liberals.

On Jan. 20, 2004, an article by Cho Se-hyon in the Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/index.asp) reported that "...39 percent of South Koreans cited the United States as the nation that is threatening the security of the country most." Only 33 percent saw North Korea in the same light. Even worse, "58 percent of those in their 20s said that the United States posed the greatest threat to the country while a mere 20 percent thought North Korea" was.

In a December 2002 survey of national attitudes, conducted in forty-two countries by the Pew Research Center, a stunning 44 percent of South Koreans were found to hold unfavorable views of the United States.

A Korean Gallup Poll, conducted around the same time as the Pew Research Center survey, confirmed as much and more, reporting that some 53.7 percent of South Koreans held “unfavorable” and “somewhat unfavorable” view of the United States. Most of these malcontents happened to be young, and included upwards of 80 percent of the college students polled.

[Apathy]

On Jan. 20, 2004, an article by Cho Se-hyon in the Korea Herald (http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/index.asp) reported that "...39 percent of South Koreans cited the United States as the nation that is threatening the security of the country most." Only 33 percent saw North Korea in the same light. Even worse, "58 percent of those in their 20s said that the United States posed the greatest threat to the country while a mere 20 percent thought North Korea" was.

In a December 2002 survey of national attitudes, conducted in forty-two countries by the Pew Research Center, a stunning 44 percent of South Koreans were found to hold unfavorable views of the United States.

A Korean Gallup Poll, conducted around the same time as the Pew Research Center survey, confirmed as much and more, reporting that some 53.7 percent of South Koreans held “unfavorable” and “somewhat unfavorable” view of the United States. Most of these malcontents happened to be young, and included upwards of 80 percent of the college students polled.

:/

I wonder why they dislike us so much.

[BlackRain]

I don't know, perhaps they resent us from help rebuild their country, provide loans/grants, provide security, help rebuild their economy, etc....

My point is that if they don't want us their, we should respect their wishes and leave.

[Angel]

I don't know, there are a few South Koreans here that seem to dislike North Korea just fine. Maybe they've just never seen what North Korean life is like and how brutal the regime is there. Maybe they need to be reeducated about Communism.

[BlackRain]

I don't know, there are a few South Koreans here that seem to dislike North Korea just fine. Maybe they've just never seen what North Korean life is like and how brutal the regime is there. Maybe they need to be reeducated about Communism.

You are correct. The younger generation does not know what hardship really was as a result of the Communist invasion. Just like the morons who wear Che T-shirts don't really know what he was about. They are enamored with a stylistic vision of counter-culturism. They would wet their pants if really faced with the reality.

However when choosing between two evils in a xenophobic society, the South Koreans will chose their brothers to the North over the USA.

[U-S-S-R]

Why should NATO stick out it's neck for a country that doesn't want it's protection? Just let them deal their business themselves, ingrateful dogs.

[Rictor]

Wow, Koreans prefer Koreans over foreigners. Stunning!

Officially, both sides are commited to reunification, so it's not that unusual that South Koreans view their Northen neighbours as brothers.

[YMan]

How are these polls worded and interpretated? And most Korean college students carefree about politics anyways, they're more into studying and dreaming big, then get involved politics.

Here's what the original poll said.

http://search.hankooki.com/times/times_view.php?term=poll++&path=hankooki3/times/lpage/nation/200602/kt2006022117121711950.htm&media=kt



Almost half of juniors surveyed, who will get their first voting rights in the 2007 presidential election, said in a recent poll that South Korea should side with North Korea if Washington attacks nuclear facilities in the North without Seoul's consent.

In the survey of 1,000 youngsters aged between 18 and 23, conducted by The Korea Times and its sister paper the Hankook Ilbo on Feb. 16-19, nearly 48 percent of respondents said that if the U.S. attacked nuclear facilities in North Korea, Seoul should act on Pyongyang's behalf and demand Washington stop the attack.


and then look at something like this.

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200506/200506060023.html



Simulations secretly commissioned by the South Korean military suggest bombing of North Korea’s nuclear facilities could in the worst case make the whole of Korea uninhabitable for a decade, it has been revealed. The military commissioned the simulations amid rising tension following North Korea’s launch of a Taepodong missile over Japan in 1998 and when suspicions surfaced a year later that the North was operating underground nuclear facilities.

The simulation revealed that destruction of the Yongbyon nuclear plant could cause enormous destruction, with nuclear fallout as far away as China and Japan. U.S. research institutes have conducted similar simulations, but this is the first time it has been confirmed that South Korean military authorities commissioned them.
If the 8 megawatt research reactor and 5 megawatt test reactor at Yongbyon were destroyed by bombs while they were in operation, the simulation showed that radiation would affect people as far as 1,400 km away. Eighty to 100 percent of those living within a 10-15 km radius of the reactors would die within two months, and only 20 percent within a 30-80km radius were expected to survive. As Seoul is about 200 km away from Yongbyon, the capital would suffer direct radiation damage.
Areas 400-1,400 km away from Yongbyon would still experience 5 rem of radiation, about 10 times the recommended maximum annual exposure. Even five years after air strikes, the area within a 700 km radius of Yongbyon could be radioactive.
If all of Yongbyon’s nuclear facilities besides the reactors such as the reprocessing facilities and nuclear waste storage facilities were destroyed, the devastation would be even greater. About a quarter of people living within 50 km of the facilities would die within hours, while the soil of the entire Korean Peninsula would be contaminated for five to 10 years. The extent of resulting damage differs depending on weather conditions like wind direction and speed, as well as on whether the reactors are in operation at the time of the bombing. Some feel the worst-case scenario is exaggerated. The research reactor at Yongbyon is currently in operation but the test reactor was shut down in late March to extract its roughly 8,000 spent fuel rods.


Even if the effects of the bombing is grossly exaggerted; there's no doubt South Korea isn't going to be unaffected by the radiation. Who in Korea would even like the possibility of that? And the poll results shouldn't be interpretated as anti-american.

[crinkler]

Dont you know, it's trendy to be anti west.

Down with Capitalism up with Communism. Thats what I say :)

[dangerclose]

A Korean Gallup Poll, conducted around the same time as the Pew Research Center survey, confirmed as much and more, reporting that some 53.7 percent of South Koreans held “unfavorable” and “somewhat unfavorable” view of the United States. Most of these malcontents happened to be young, and included upwards of 80 percent of the college students polled.

When Kim Jong Il invaded the south in 1950 sparking the Korean War most of the South Korean college students sided with the communist north. They have that much in common with U.S. college students today.

In the spirit of unification, we should withdraw our troops from S. Korea.

[YMan]

The funny thing was the same student group that opposed the military government in South Korea in the 1980s and called for democracy, is now anti-american and pro-communist.

[jmatucd]

Why should NATO stick out it's neck for a country that doesn't want it's protection? Just let them deal their business themselves, ingrateful dogs.

lol, can we get a longer ban this time? life was so nice before

[Speaker of the House]

I LOVE YOU


I dont want to get banned.

[Speaker of the House]

lol, can we get a longer ban this time? life was so nice before

He actually got banned for that? For insulting anti-america pro-North Korea kids....


really?

I better stop making fun of USAF Med Techs...

[Roaming East]

He actually got banned for that? For insulting anti-america pro-North Korea kids....


really?

I better stop making fun of USAF Med Techs...
whoah, dont go all crazy on us, if an airman cant make fun of med-techs then the terrorist have already won

[hughdotoh]

South Koreans are just sore because they've been outdone by the Chinese (OMFG!) and Japanese and they're looking for someone to blame.

Besides, that "Yanqui go home!' line always as a tag - "....but don't leave too quick"

[Laworkerbee]

The United States has no business in South Korea, our country was there to secure their freedom...that has been accomplished.

If South Korea can't defend itself from North Korea today then it doesn't deserve to exist.

It has had 50 years to prepare its defences, it has high technology, fuel, and more importantly it's people are fed and healthy. In essense it is everything the North is not.

[Speaker of the House]

whoah, dont go all crazy on us, if an airman cant make fun of med-techs then the terrorist have already won

Amen........

[Mr.K]

It's sounds pretty bloody horrible, but looking from THEIR perspective I can try to see their precarious position.

I hope to see North Korea and it's people see a change of government, freedom, and opportunity in my lifetime....with as little loss of life as possible....but armed conflict was necessary on the Korean Peninsula before, it may be necessary again.

South Korea is one of the most extraordinary examples of rapid economic development in human history, internet broadband penetration, for one thing, is amongst the highest in the world.

I CAN envision how younger South Koreans, not having really any direct experience with North Korea's active, and often violent, undermining of South Korea, would make a short-sighted choice of appeasement towards North Korea.

My guess is that the average young South Korean is not debating, like we often do, the geopolitics and military consequences of a conflict in Korea.

My guess is that they ARE debating how they'd all be economically destroyed by a conflict as well as the cost of reunification. I bet they spend a good bit of time talking about how costly reunification was, and still is, for Germany......and how it will be much worse for them.

IF I were South Korean, I would NOT want North Korea to fall.....I'd want Kim Il Sung to keep partying like it's 1999 because WHEN the North Korean People's Party is over, it's the South Korean people who are paying the bloody tab and suffering the hangover.

Are you sure? I think a divided Korea is the ultimate industrialized country dream. The north has a powerful army ( lets not debate that , right now) and the south is very developped economically. Together they would be a competitor for Japan, China, you name it.
On the other hand it could be a scenario similar to Germany, with the south feeding the north and a culture shock between the koreans.
I also think South Koreans know about North more than we do, and perhaps there are certain things they don't agree with, hoping a change will come with the reunification of the country.

[Rifleman]

It's sounds pretty bloody horrible, but looking from THEIR perspective I can try to see their precarious position.

I hope to see North Korea and it's people see a change of government, freedom, and opportunity in my lifetime....with as little loss of life as possible....but armed conflict was necessary on the Korean Peninsula before, it may be necessary again.

South Korea is one of the most extraordinary examples of rapid economic development in human history, internet broadband penetration, for one thing, is amongst the highest in the world.

I CAN envision how younger South Koreans, not having really any direct experience with North Korea's active, and often violent, undermining of South Korea, would make a short-sighted choice of appeasement towards North Korea.

My guess is that the average young South Korean is not debating, like we often do, the geopolitics and military consequences of a conflict in Korea.

My guess is that they ARE debating how they'd all be economically destroyed by a conflict as well as the cost of reunification. I bet they spend a good bit of time talking about how costly reunification was, and still is, for Germany......and how it will be much worse for them.

IF I were South Korean, I would NOT want North Korea to fall.....I'd want Kim Il Sung to keep partying like it's 1999 because WHEN the North Korean People's Party is over, it's the South Korean people who are paying the bloody tab and suffering the hangover.

Good post Flagg!

The South Koreans do seem to have a generation wise beyond their years.

[YMan]

Well, the article in KoreaTimes did imply that the South Korean youth wants the government to intercede in the conflict, not conduct war against the US. I don't know how reliable "breitbart" is, never heard of that daily 'til I read this, but it seems like they've selectively chose what to report to show a bad image. I'm not saying Korean news is any better (in fact I hate the liberal news in Korea, especially ohmynews, they're so anti-military including against the ROKA with such ridiculous slander); its that the media in general just likes to sensationalize reports ya know?

If I'm right, than stopping Yongbon bombing really is their best interest, because if worse comes to worse, the entire country will be dead anyways.

The South Korean army is more than capable in handling the DPRK forces. And no South Koreans are not sore over the chinese and japanese, except over japanese annexation of the peninsula and the Japanese repeated claims over dokdo, other than that they don't care. Korea has a proud history, there are dark moments, but overall there are many instances where Korea 'outdone' rivals in war; never has been a superpower but the country has been resilient thus far.

[ogukuo72]

As I've argued some months ago, South Korea is actually more of a hinderance than a help in containing North Korea's nuclear ambitions and ensuring regional stability. The best thing that the US can do is to withdraw completely from South Korea, and free itself from this burden of having to defend an ungrateful nation. Maybe, then, they would have a more accurate appreciation of their own national security environment.

[Durandal]

IF I were South Korean, I would NOT want North Korea to fall.....I'd want Kim Il Sung to keep partying like it's 1999 because WHEN the North Korean People's Party is over, it's the South Korean people who are paying the bloody tab and suffering the hangover.

Too true...

It would make German reunification look like freaking tupperware party.

[YMan]

Korea's future on reunification isn't very bright.

US leaves, ROK gets invaded.

US bombs yonbon, the entire peninsula gets radiated and have to be evacuated.

Peaceful reunification this decade, South Korea's economy goes down the drain.

Long-term stable relation, it'll take a very long time to develope a stable coexistance and even longer to develope north korea's economy to an acceptable level for ROK. There's also no guarantee to that too.

In all these options, South Korea is still the loser.

[deagle]

Thats pretty interesting. I guess the S.Koreans are enjoying too much liberty, and able to watch lots of channels on tv. I bet most can also get a 2nd bowl of rice EVERYNIGHT if they wanted to. Theyd side with them, but when $hit hits the fan, and we don't step in, they'll be begging for assistance, then say, we demand too much and such. Its definitely a flashpoint, and i'm sure all Koreans want unification. Problem is, North wants it all, and S wants it all. O f course the rest of the world is rooting for different sides also.

[duck]

Korea's future on reunification isn't very bright.

US leaves, ROK gets invaded.

US bombs yonbon, the entire peninsula gets radiated and have to be evacuated.

Peaceful reunification this decade, South Korea's economy goes down the drain.

Long-term stable relation, it'll take a very long time to develope a stable coexistance and even longer to develope north korea's economy to an acceptable level for ROK. There's also no guarantee to that too.

In all these options, South Korea is still the loser.

Let's put it this way. The US is not going to leave Korea with the China vs. Taiwan issue undecided.

There is a lot going on between the Koreas that outsiders are completely unaware of. ROK businessmen and politicians are building up friendships in the North the Korean way, with drinking sessions and bribes. I believe the DPRK is more interested in providing slave labor for ROK Chaebols than invading anyone. This way Korea could even compete with China in manufacturing again.

But the ROK also has to convince ( and give money to ) China in order to achieve step-by-step reunification. Part of this money could come from Japan where people are understandably quite anxious because any DPRK nuclear attack would be targeted at them and not the ROK.

Especially in Asia, ideology has no face value. The shared bottle of scotch is far more important.