Nearly all South Koreans regard human rights conditions in North Korea as serious, and most also support a policy of peaceful coexistence with Pyongyang, according to a new survey reported by Christian Daily Korea.
The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, known as NKDB, released partial results Friday from its annual poll of public attitudes. Of 1,000 adults surveyed, 95.8% described the human rights situation in the North as serious. Another 68.6% said they supported the current government's peaceful coexistence policy.
The group said the two positions often appear together. Many respondents who want Seoul to press the human rights issue also back the policy of easing tensions with the North, NKDB found.
A majority of respondents, 61.4%, said South Korea should actively intervene on North Korean human rights on the basis of universal human rights. That view held a majority among self-described progressives, moderates and conservatives alike, Christian Daily Korea reported.
The survey also isolated 480 respondents who said the government should officially raise North Korean human rights. Within that group, 70.8% supported the peaceful coexistence policy.
"This shows that support for officially raising the North Korean human rights issue and support for the peaceful coexistence policy appear together," NKDB said in its assessment.
NKDB has surveyed South Korean attitudes on the issue every year since 2014, tracking public interest and views on the roles of the government and human rights organizations. This year it added questions on the coexistence policy and analyzed them in a special report.
Research firm Consumer Insight conducted the survey online from Sept. 9 to 17. It polled adults aged 19 and older nationwide, using quotas based on the population's makeup by sex, age and region.
The group plans to release detailed findings at a seminar Nov. 17 at the Seoul Global Center, according to Christian Daily Korea. Discussion will focus on whether improving human rights in the North and pursuing peaceful coexistence can be compatible, and on which policy tools might serve both aims.
Speakers are to include NKDB Chairman Park Jong-hoon and Lee Sung-hoon, South Korea's Foreign Ministry ambassador for human rights, peace and democracy. Presenters from Consumer Insight and NKDB will be joined on a panel by Yoon In-jin, a sociology professor at Korea University, and Han Dong-ho, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
