Seoul, Oct 5 (IANS): Only 44 per cent of South Koreans think that reunification with North Korea is necessary, a survey revealed on Tuesday.

According to the poll of 1,200 adults by the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies (IPUS) at Seoul National University, 44.6 per cent replied that unification is necessary, recording the lowest percentage since the survey began in 2007, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The proportion of those who replied that unification was unnecessary stood at 29.4 per cent, it showed.

The institute cited the North's demolition of the inter-Korean liaison office last year and the breakdown of the Hanoi summit in February 2019 between then US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as some of the factors that affected the latest results.

Among those surveyed, an all-time high of 82.7 per cent said they considered the US as a partner for cooperation, while 70.7 per cent said they believe Washington will help Seoul if a war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points with a 95 per cent confidence level.