Four out of ten elementary to high school students in South Korea said they think unification with North Korea is unnecessary, with the number of students considering it necessary dropping below 50 percent for the first time.

According to the unification ministry's survey of 74-thousand students at 756 schools and over six-thousand-400 teaching staff between last October and November, 49-point-eight percent of the students said unification was necessary. It is the first time since 2014 that less than half of the surveyed students saw the necessity of unification.

The percentage of students who said it was unnecessary, on the other hand, gradually rose from 24-point-two percent in 2020 to a record high of 38-point-nine percent last year.

Understanding for the necessity of unification among teachers also declined from 86-point-seven percent in 2022 to 82-point-five percent in 2023.

Amid escalating cross-border tensions due to the North's provocations, students and teachers' negative perception of the northern neighbor intensified, with 56-point-five percent and 50-point-six percent, respectively, saying there was a small possibility for a Pyongyang-sparked military clash on the Korean Peninsula. Another 24-point-one and 15 percent, respectively, said there was a big possibility.