3 in 4 Americans back maintaining, increasing U.S. troop presence in Korea: Survey

Apache helicopters stand by at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Dec. 18. [YONHAP]

 
Three out of four Americans support maintaining or increasing U.S. troop presence in South Korea and backing peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula, a new global survey found, highlighting a gap between public sentiment and the isolationist approach of U.S. President Donald Trump.
 
The Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) released the results of the 2025 Global Survey on Korean Unification on Tuesday. Conducted from Aug. 11 to 18, the survey gathered responses from around 2,000 Americans and about 1,000 people each in Japan, Germany, Mongolia, Sweden, Italy, Canada and Poland.
 

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Among American respondents, 28.4 percent said the United States should increase the size of its troop deployment in South Korea, while 46.9 percent said the current level should be maintained. Of those who supported an increase, 9 percent said the U.S. Forces Korea presence should be significantly expanded.
 
“Many Americans do not oppose spending national resources on international security,” the institute said. “Trump’s 'America First' foreign policy does not necessarily reflect mainstream public opinion.”
 
The survey also found broad support among Americans for efforts to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. Diplomatic support for South Korea received backing from 67.3 percent of U.S. respondents, while 54.8 percent supported economic assistance and 52.1 percent supported military involvement.
 

A U.S. Stryker armored vehicle and a Korean K200 armored vehicle cross a pontoon bridge during a combined arms river-crossing drill in Yeoju, Gyeonggi, on Aug. 27. [YONHAP]

 
Support for peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula was similarly high in several other countries. In Germany, 76.6 percent of respondents favored diplomatic support, followed by Italy at 72.2 percent, Canada at 71.3 percent, Sweden at 69.1 percent, Mongolia at 63.8 percent and Poland at 61.5 percent.
 
Japan, however, was a notable exception. Only 36.7 percent of Japanese respondents supported diplomatic engagement on the peninsula. Even fewer backed economic support at 25.8 percent or military involvement at 12.7 percent. The institute attributed Japan’s reluctance to negative perceptions of both South Korea and North Korea.
 
When asked to rate their trust in the South and the North on a five-point scale, Japanese respondents gave South Korea a score of 2.65 and North Korea 1.57. Both fall below the eight-country averages of 3.37 for South Korea and 2.79 for North Korea.
 
“While North American and European countries see South Korea as a mature and reliable partner, Japan remains distant and deeply distrustful of both Koreas,” the KINU said. “Although South Korea generally enjoys international trust, Japanese skepticism could undermine South Korea’s global image.”
 
The survey also revealed shared concerns over North Korea’s nuclear threat.
 

A North Korean flag flutters at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone in South Korea on July 19, 2022. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

 
Among Japanese respondents, 81.5 percent said Pyongyang’s nuclear program poses a serious threat to national peace and security. That figure was 72.9 percent in the United States and 66.5 percent in Mongolia, a country that maintains relatively warm ties with North Korea. In Europe, concern levels hovered in the low 60s, with the exception of Italy at 57.6 percent.
 
On average, 66.9 percent of respondents across all countries surveyed regarded the nuclear program as a threat to their national peace. This suggests that countries geographically closer to North Korea or in direct military opposition to it, such as the United States, tend to perceive the North's nuclear threat more acutely.
 
The survey also compared trust in the U.S. nuclear umbrella. The share of respondents who said they trust the umbrella remained low overall, at 29.2 percent in Japan, 37.6 percent in Germany, 48.6 percent in Poland, 34.4 percent in Italy, 43.9 percent in Canada and 35.6 percent in Sweden.
 

A U.S. flag flutters in front of the White House in Washington on Dec. 23. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

 
South Korea stood out sharply from that trend. In a separate survey conducted from July 10 to Aug. 13, 71.3 percent of South Korean respondents said they trust the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
 
Lee Sang-shin, the lead researcher of the study, noted that South Korea exhibits a unique combination of high trust in U.S. extended deterrence alongside significant public support for Seoul developing its own nuclear capabilities.
 
“South Korea’s trust in the U.S. nuclear umbrella is more than twice as high as that of other countries,” Lee said. “That means South Korea’s debate about independent nuclear armament is not necessarily rooted in distrust of the United States.”
 
The KINU launched the survey last year to better understand international views and to lay the groundwork for unification diplomacy. This year’s poll, conducted by Gallup, surveyed 9,519 people with a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points for the United States and 3.1 for other countries at a 95 percent confidence level.


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK HYUN-JU [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]