Almost 70 percent of South Koreans support the government’s plan to grant long-term stay visas to hundreds of Afghan civilians who fled their homeland fearing the Taliban, a poll showed.

According to the poll of 500 people aged 18 and above conducted by Realmeter on Aug. 27, a combined 68.7 percent of the respondents said they approved of the plan to issue long-term visas to the Afghan evacuees who arrived here last week, allowing them to get jobs here.

Among those who supported the long-term stays, 28.9 percent said they strongly approved of the idea, while 39.8 percent said they somewhat approved.

Only 28.7 percent said they opposed the plan, with 15.1 percent showing strong disapproval. (Yonhap)