SEOUL, November 8. /TASS/. Some 71.4% of South Koreans are concerned about the rapprochement between Russia and North Korea, including the possibility of joint exercises between the two countries and arms trade, according to the results of a sociological survey conducted by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council headed by South Korea’s President.
The survey was conducted from September 15 to 17, with 1,000 people taking part in it. According to the results, a total of 71.4% of respondents said that the strengthening of cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a cause for concern, with 42.3% of respondents saying they were very concerned. Meanwhile, 25.9% responded that the rapprochement between Russia and North Korea does not have them concerned. "The level of concern among citizens about military cooperation between Russia and the North turned out to be high," the authors of the survey noted.
In addition, 32% of respondents said that the unification of South Korea and North Korea is unnecessary, a record high since the year 2015. The council conducts the survey every quarter. In total, 66.9% of people support the unification of the peninsula. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the US-South Korea military alliance, 44.3% of respondents said it should be strengthened. Another 36.9% said it should be maintained at its current level. As many as 16% would prefer weaker ties with the US.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia from September 12 to 17. He held talks with the Russian president at the Vostochny Spaceport on September 13, also visiting the Gagarin Aviation Plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Knevichi Airport, and the Marshal Shaposhnikov frigate. He also attended the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ ballet in the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theater, visited the Far Eastern Federal University, the aquarium and a factory of the Arnika Group, which specializes in production of food and fodder materials and ingredients.
Later, officials from South Korea and the US alleged that North Korea was supplying weapons and ammunition to Russia, whereas Pyongyang would supposedly receive assistance in preparing for the launch of a satellite and in modernizing the aviation and air defense forces.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier called Washington's claims that Pyongyang was providing military aid to Moscow pure speculation. On October 26, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed without comment reports about alleged arms deliveries to Russia from North Korea. According to him, "there are many such reports, they are all, as a rule, groundless, there are no specifics there."