[EAI Issue Briefing] South Koreans’ Perceptions of Blocs between ROK-US-Japan and DPRK-China-Russia and Support for Nuclear Armament: 2025 EAI Public Opinion Poll on East Asia
Commentary·Issue Briefing
Yang Gyu KIMㆍInhwan OH | 2025-06-27
Professor Yang Gyu Kim of Korea National Defense University and EAI Senior Research Fellow Inhwan Oh analyze the correlation between public perceptions of blocs between ROK-US-Japan and DPRK-China-Russia and South Koreans` support for nuclear armament, drawing on the results of the 2025 EAI Public Opinion Poll on East Asia. Kim and Oh find that perceptions of growing U.S.-China rivalry have a significant impact on South Koreans` support for nuclear armament, which reached a new high this year. Based on their analysis, the authors suggest that the Lee administration should use more sophisticated policy language to explain the U.S.-China rivalry, which is unfolding in a different form than the Cold War, and be careful not to further provoke public support for nuclear armament.