Persuading US to ease sanctions 'top priority' for implementing inter

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, hugs North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the military demarcation line in the border village of Panmunjeom, June 30, 2019, after Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump, right, held a meeting at Freedom House in Panmunjeom. Yonhap

More than 40 percent of South Koreans think that persuading the United States to ease sanctions against North Korea is a "top priority" to implement inter-Korean agreements aimed at expanding cross-border exchanges and cooperation, a poll showed Friday.

According to the poll of 1,000 adults conducted by the presidential National Unification Advisory Council, 43.6 percent said that the persuasion process is necessary more than anything else to implement the 2018 summit agreements "in a stable manner."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held three summits in 2018 at which they agreed to expand cross-border exchanges and cooperation. But little progress has since been made in the face of global sanctions.

The survey said that 30.7 percent cited discussions with North Korea in the military field to reduce border tensions as the second-most-important issue to execute the summit agreements. It was followed by 11.6 percent who called for securing a "legal foundation" such as parliamentary ratification of the agreements.

Asked what the new U.S. government should focus on to jump-start the stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea, 43.9 percent said that Washington should ease sanctions in accordance with North Korea's change in attitude. Of those surveyed, 16 percent said more pressure should be applied to North Korea.

The survey also showed that 54.9 percent think that North Korea's cooperation with other Asian countries in antivirus and public health sectors would help advance the currently stalled inter-Korean relations.

Of those surveyed, 74.1 percent believe that coronavirus vaccines should be provided to the North after all South Korean citizens are inoculated against the highly contagious disease.

With regard to reunification with North Korea, 69.3 percent said that it is necessary, down from 72 percent in a similar poll conducted three months earlier. Of those polled, 28.8 percent said that reunification with the North is not necessary. (Yonhap)