A growing number of North Korean defectors are pessimistic about the two Koreas achieving unification.
 
The Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University conducted a survey from June to August on 132 North Koreans who fled the North last year.
 
Results released Wednesday show that while living in North Korea, 55-point-seven percent considered unification impossible
 
The figure is up sharply from 44-point-two percent recorded in the same survey last year.
 
The percentage of defectors who viewed unification as possible within ten years also dropped from just under 45 percent last year to 26 percent this year.
 
Meanwhile, nine percent of the surveyed said they thought it will take over 30 years for unification to take place compared to two-point-two percent last year.
 
The institute carries out an annual survey on how North Korean defectors who escaped the North the previous year perceive unification.
 
Researchers at the institute said that recently defected North Koreans may be discouraged about unification after witnessing Kim Jong-un solidify his power.