The American public is likely divided on the issue. In a recent New York Times op-ed, the Middlebury Institute’s Jeffrey Lewis argues that the United States needs to “ that North Korea is a nuclear state,” leaving behind policy goals focusing on the denuclearization of North Korea to focus on reducing the risk of nuclear war between the two countries. There is a growing sense among analysts in the United States that the door to North Korea’s denuclearization is now firmly closed. Public Split on Accepting North Korea’s Nuclear Status Even the intermediate range ballistic missile that overflew Japan-North Korea’s longest-distance test to date-was relatively lightly covered. Those types of tests do not receive the elevated coverage in American media that ICBM or nuclear tests elicit. Second, even though North Korea is in the midst of its busiest missile testing period ever, most of those tests have been short-range ballistic missiles. ![]() Given a range of policy options in dealing with North Korea’s nuclear program, more than three-quarters of Americans prefer to focus on other pressing problems facing the United States besides North Korea (75%). China’s military exercises in the Taiwan strait and growing concern of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan have pushed North Korea further from the headlines. Nor is North Korea the most prominent security issue in Asia. The most prominent has been Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has sharply refocused American attention on Europe. There are likely two drivers of this decline in Americans’ perception of North Korea’s nuclear program as a critical threat.įirst, issues involving North Korea have been overshadowed by other pressing events. That reading occurred during the 2017 North Korean crisis, when North Korea escalated weapons testing leading up to the country’s sixth nuclear test, prompting warnings of “ fire and fury” from Donald Trump. Half (52%) say North Korea’s nuclear program is a critical threat to US security interests, down from 59 percent a year ago and significantly below the high of 75 percent in 2017. Though American views of North Korea remain as cold as ever, the public is less concerned about the country’s nuclear program than it has been in the past. Majority Say North Korea’s Nuclear Program a Critical Threat When asked to identify countries as an ally, partner, rival, or adversary, only four countries were identified as allies by more than 40 percent of Americans: France (52%), Germany (45%), Japan (44%), and South Korea (41%). In 2021, Americans put South Korea on the Mt. Meanwhile, the favorability of South Korea is at an all-time high. It is important to note that the survey was conducted in July, well after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This places last North Korea last among all countries included in the survey, below China (32), Iran (25), and Russia (22). On a 0-100 scale, where 100 indicates warm, favorable feelings, Americans gave North Korea an average rating of 20. ![]()
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