N.K. political system, biggest barrier to unification: survey

A study on public sentiment toward the potential unification of South and North Korea revealed that six out of ten citizens believed the disparate political systems to be greatest obstacle.

Meanwhile, the so-called ¡°386 generation ¡° (age in 30s, entered university in the 80s, born in the 60s) was found to be pro-active towards unification while the younger generation was passive.

According to the questionnaire, whose content was based on unification and education policies promoted by the Ministry of Unification, out of 1,061 respondents, 633 or 59.7% answered that North Korea¡¯s political system was the major obstacle to unification.

A total of 84.2% of 386-generation respondents were found to be interested in the unification issue while 57.5% of the younger generation expressed interest. With respect to the desire for unification, 90.1% of the 386 generation were in favor of unification while only 67.0% of young people supported it.

The study was conducted as part of efforts to design a policy to bolster education by the Ministry of Unification and the actual poll was completed between March and October by the Department of Social Studies at Ehwa Womans University.

A total of 1,061 people completed questionnaires, 250 of whom were ordinary citizens, 348 youths, 260 women and 203 members of the 386 generation.