56 pct. of S. Koreans think new NK gov`t will last long

A poll has found that more than half of South Koreans think that the new North Korean leadership headed by Kim Jong Un will last for a considerable period of time.

According to the results of an opinion survey of 1,000 South Koreans jointly conducted by The Dong-A Ilbo and Research & Research, 56.4 percent said they expect the new government in Pyongyang to be maintained stably, while just 28.9 percent forecast the regime’s collapse within two or three years. More than 53 percent said Seoul should seek to mend fences with Pyongyang regardless of whether the latter apologizes for attacking a South Korean naval ship and the frontline island of Yeonpyeong last year.

In a poll on South Korea’s next president, Park Geun-hye, the frontrunner for the ruling Grand National Party, was the favorite with 31.9 percent support, followed by Ahn Cheol-soo, a former software mogul and dean of Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, with 23.9 percent and Moon Jae-in, former chief of staff under the Roh Moo-hyun administration, with 7.4 percent.

Between Park and Ahn, 48 percent favored Ahn while 38.5 percent preferred Park. Nearly 39 percent of those polled said Ahn should start his political activities before the April parliamentary elections if he wants to run for president, as voters need time to assess his quality and ethics.

egija@donga.com