© KIM KYUNG-HOON/GETTY IMAGES
South Korean President Moon Jae-In is welcomed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before a family photo session at the G20 summit on June 28 in Osaka, Japan. Ties between the two U.S. Asia-Pacific allies reached a critical low this year, but have stabilized after a recent meeting between the two men whose nations have a troubled history.
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.
Comment: Unfortunately, it seems like things will only get worse before they get any better. The bombings are only one facet of the many problems Sweden is facing currently.