Credit: Public domain.
Despite the rise in hostile rhetoric against North Korea under the Yoon Suk-yeol 윤석열 administration, relatively few South Korean young people see North Korea as the enemy. According to the annual survey conducted by the Ministry of Unification 통일부, only 10.9% of elementary, middle and high school students of South Korea considered North Korea to be the enemy.
This is not to say that the students saw North Korea through rose-tinted glasses: 38.1% saw North Korea as “a presence to be wary of,” while 38.7% saw North Korea as “a partner for cooperation.” Skepticism of North Korea appears to have risen significantly in recent years. In the same survey two years ago, 54.7% of respondents said North Korea was a partner, while only 24.2% said North Korea should be an object of caution.