No increase in Americans' appetite for military action in N. Korea: poll

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- Americans are no more eager for military action in North Korea than they were a month ago, a survey showed Wednesday, as tensions between the sides appeared to cool.

According to the joint survey by Morning Consult and Politico, 47 percent of 1,997 registered voters in the Aug. 10-14 period supported airstrikes against military targets and suspected nuclear sites in the North, down from 50 percent last month.

On the option of sending U.S. ground troops to take control of the North, 30 percent expressed support, compared to 33 percent last month. More than half of voters, 55 percent, opposed dispatching troops.

The survey was conducted as tensions flared between Washington and Pyongyang over North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July and its threat to fire ballistic missiles toward the U.S. territory of Guam.

"Escalating rhetoric surrounding North Korea has not notably changed Americans' appetite for engagement," said Kyle Dropp, Morning Consult's co-founder and chief research officer, according to Politico.

Meanwhile, 78 percent of voters said the U.S. should continue diplomatic efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the same percentage as last month.

Also, 68 percent wanted North Korea back on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, down from 69 percent last month.

On Trump's now famous threat to rain "fire and fury" on North Korea, 46 percent said they found it appropriate, against 39 percent who did not

Voters were divided in terms of their confidence in Trump to handle the North Korea threats, with 30 percent saying they have a lot of confidence in him, followed by 28 percent with no confidence at all, 19 percent with some confidence, and 14 percent without much confidence.

The survey had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

hague@yna.co.kr
(END)