Key facts
- Less than 40% of South Koreans believe unification with North Korea is necessary, according to a poll.
- Support for unification has decreased to 39% from 41.1% last year.
- Younger South Koreans (20s and 30s) show significantly lower support for unification.
- A record 39.1% of respondents believe unification is impossible.
- A record 31.5% prefer the current division of the Koreas.
- Support for South Korea's nuclear armament reached a record 61.1%.
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- Support for unification with North Korea among South Koreans has fallen below 40%, with younger demographics showing particularly low enthusiasm, according to a poll released on Monday, September 28, 2026. The survey, commissioned by Seoul National University's Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, found that 39% of respondents believe unification is necessary, a decrease from 41.1% in the previous year. Conversely, 32.2% of respondents stated unification is not necessary, an increase from 30.4% last year and more than double the 15.1% recorded in 2007 when the survey was first conducted. The poll highlighted a generational divide, with only 25.2% of those in their 20s and 27% in their 30s viewing unification as necessary, while 44.8% and 47% in those age groups, respectively, considered it unnecessary. Furthermore, a record 39.1% of respondents expressed the belief that unification is impossible, the highest figure since 2007. A record 31.5% of participants indicated a preference for the current state of division between the two Koreas. Distrust towards the North Korean regime has also intensified, with 78.3% of respondents believing that dialogue and compromise are impossible, up from 66.5% last year. A significant majority, 83.3%, believe the North Korean regime has no desire for unification, and 90.4% are convinced that North Korea will not abandon its nuclear weapons. In a notable shift, support for South Korea pursuing its own nuclear armament has reached a record high of 61.1%, up from 51.8% in the prior year. The institute cautioned that these results do not account for the potential costs or diplomatic pressures associated with unification. The poll was conducted by Gallup Korea from July 1 to 26, surveying 1,200 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.