South Korea Would Back Kim Jong-Un In The Event Of A War Between Japan And North Korea

The results of a survey released November 6 by the Seoul-baed Korea Institute for National Unification's Lee Sang Sin shows the results of an "extreme hypothetical situation" in which South Koreans were asked if they would support North Korea or Japan in the event of a war between the two regional powers. Korea Institute of National Unification

Newsweek: If North Korea and Japan Went to War, More South Koreans Would Back Kim Jong Un, Poll Shows

If North Korea and Japan went to war, more South Koreans would back their immediate neighbor, a new poll by a state-sponsored think tank in Seoul showed.

The survey, conducted by research fellow Lee Sang Sin, was presented Wednesday as part of the Korea Institute for National Unification's 11th annual Peace Forum. Lee set out to determine the views of South Koreans at a critical juncture in Northeast Asia's power dynamics, and found they would more readily support longtime rival North Korea than fellow U.S. ally Japan should a conflict break out between the two.

"Under a rather extreme hypothetical situation in which war may break out between North Korea and Japan, 45.5 percent would choose to help North Korea, and 15.1 percent Japan," the survey, which was obtained by Newsweek, showed. "39.4 percent respond that they have no idea."

Lee also found that responses did not vary much by political party, with the right-wing Liberty Korea Party only slightly more decided on assisting either Japan or North Korea. Lee told Newsweek that the results were "not so surprising" for those following the trend in inter-Korean relations.

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WNU Editor: North Korea is a brutal Communist dictatorship where most of its citizens are destitute. Japan is a liberal democracy and one of the richest countries in the world. But if given a choice on who to support in the event of war, the mass majority in South Korea would support North Korea. Cannot say that I am surprised by this. Even though Japan left the Korean peninsula 74 years ago, the bitterness of that occupation and Japan's reluctance to acknowledge it is a major wedge issue between the two peoples.