North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spent most of 2017 launching missiles, testing nukes, and issuing threats, but his approval rating in South Korea is skyrocketing.
A meager 10 percent of South Koreans approved of Kim in March, according to a Gallop Korea poll. A new poll conducted by MBC News this week revealed that an astonishing 77.5 percent of South Koreans have a positive view of the North Korean leader. Even more shocking given the number of times North Korea has attempted to deceive, more than 60 percent of the 1,200 men and women surveyed believe that Kim is a generally trustworthy fellow.
Kim met South Korean President Moon Jae-in for the first time on April 27 on South Korean soil at Panmunjom, the joint security area at the fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ).
The MBC News poll, which was conducted over the weekend and into the start of this week, revealed that 89 percent of respondents consider Friday’s inter-Korean summit a success. More than half expect the meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim to be a success.
Kim, the murderous young dictator who has violently executed hundreds — including several of his family members — during his reign of terror and threatened the U.S., South Korea, and Japan with nuclear destruction, showed a different side of himself at the summit. There were warm smiles, hugs, and handshakes accompanied by gentle promises of a peaceful, denuclearized Korea.
Whether Kim’s behavior was a sincere effort to engage the South in diplomacy or a carefully choreographed performance remains unclear.
In the wake of the summit, the South Korean president’s approval rating has also risen sharply, with roughly 86 percent of the South Korean population responding positively to his actions.
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