90% of South Koreans believe North won't surrender nuclear weapons, survey says | NK News
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September 19, 2026Sep 19, 2026

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90% of South Koreans believe North won’t surrender nuclear weapons, survey says

South Koreans are losing trust in Kim Jong Un, but still largely support engagement with North Korea: KINU report

The vast majority of South Koreans polled believe that North Korea will not surrender its nuclear arsenal, according to a recent survey from the Korean Institute of National Unification (KINU).

The annual KINU unification survey, which was published on Thursday, polled more than 1,000 South Korean citizens age 19 and older between May 20 and June 10 of this year.

In total, 89.5% of respondents said that North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons — a higher portion than in 2016 and 2018, when “inter-Korean relations were in one of the worst states in history,” the report stated.