A new poll suggests that less than half of all South Koreans believe reunification with the North is necessary, the lowest percentage recorded in nearly 15 years.

The Seoul-based Institute for Peace and Unification Studies (IPUS) surveyed 1,200 South Koreans on inter-Korean issues and found that 44.6% of respondents believe North-South reunification is necessary. The result marks the fourth-straight year that enthusiasm for reunification has dropped and the lowest level since IPUS first conducted the poll in 2007.

“People’s expectations [for improved inter-Korean relations] were so high in 2018 that the disappointment that followed was huge — the negative aspects