10명 중 8명 정도 “북한과 전쟁의 가능성이 있다”

This photo is not directly related to the story. (AFP)

10명의 시민 중 8명꼴은 한반도에 전쟁이 일어날 가능성이 보인다고 설문조사에서 밝혀졌다.

8일 국가보훈처에 땨르면 6•25전쟁 60주년사업추진기획단은 6•25전쟁 정전협졍 60주년을 맞아 전국의 만 19세 이상의 성인남녀 1,020명을 대상으로 6•25전쟁 및 정전 60주년 계기 국민의식조사를 실시한 결과 응답자의 78.7%가 북한과 전쟁이 일어날 가능성이 보인다고 응답했다. 반면, 15.7%의 응답자는 전쟁이 사실상 끝났다고 응답했으며 4.2%는 전쟁이 완전히 끝났다고 응답했다.

한반도의 지속적 영구적 평화를 위해 필요한 노력을 묻는 질문 (복수응답)에는 ‘국민 안보의식 강화’ ‘북한과의 협력과 화합’’ ‘자주국방 역량 강화’가 필요하다고 응답자들은 대답했다.

국가보훈처는 이 설문조사를 작년 11월 15일부터 24일까지 종전 60주년에 앞서 휴전에 여론을 조사를 했다. (코리아헤럴드)

Eight out of 10 S. Koreans see chance of war with North: poll

Almost eight out of 10 South Koreans still see a possibility of war breaking out with the North sixty years after the Korean War ended in a ceasefire, a survey showed Tuesday.

According to the survey by the veterans‘ agency of 1,020 adults nationwide, 78.7 percent said another war with the communist rival may take place on the peninsula, while 15.7 percent thought the war was effectively over and only 4.2 percent considered the war completely over.

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs conducted the survey from Nov. 15-24 of last year to gauge public sentiment on the unfinished war ahead of marking the 60th anniversary of the truce.

Among them, 45.7 percent expected the two Koreas will remain divided for the next 20 years, while 25 percent said the current status will last for the next decade and 10.2 percent said it will last for 15 more years.

To promote peace in the region, the respondents demanded the government pursue efforts to raise security awareness among the public, push for reconciliation with Pyongyang, strengthen national security, promote diplomacy with other countries and strengthen the military alliance with the United States.

The result underscores persistent security concerns among the public as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is trying to consolidate his power after taking the helm of the impoverished nation when his father Kim Jong-il died in December 2011.

Although the two Koreas have not engaged in a full-scale war since the three-year war ended in a 1953 truce, minor skirmishes have taken place near the frontier and the tensely guarded western sea in the last decades.

Tensions escalated after 50 South Koreans were killed in 2010 in two deadly attacks by the North in the Yellow Sea. Pyongyang’s firing off a long-range rocket last month further strained inter-Korean ties as the launch was seen as a test of its ballistic missile technology. (연합)