Defectors Think Most North Koreans Approve Of Kim Jong Un

Enlarge this image toggle caption Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

While public opinion polling hasn't exactly caught on in North Korea, a survey of defectors estimates that more than half of the country they left behind approves of the job leader Kim Jong Un is doing.

Seoul's Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, as reported by Yonhap news agency, asked 133 defectors to hazard a guess as to Kim's actual approval rating in the country, which at least publicly buys into the absolute cult of personality surrounding its leadership.

Just over 60 percent said they think most of the country is behind him. In a similar survey in 2011, only 55 percent believed Kim's father and predecessor, Kim Jong Il, had the support of the majority of the country.

As the BBC writes:

"Experts put Kim Jong-un's popularity down to efforts improve everyday citizens' lives, with an emphasis on economic growth, light industries and farming in a country where most are believed to be short of food, Yonhap says. There are no opinion polls in the closed communist state, where — outwardly at least — the leader enjoys full and boisterous support. Though not directly comparable, the perceived approval rating outshines those of Western leaders. A recent McClatchy poll suggested only 41% of Americans back President Barack Obama's performance, while UK Prime Minister David Cameron scored 38% in a recent YouGov poll."

The Wall Street Journal, quoting the poll, says more than 81 percent of the defectors said people were getting three meals a day, up from 75 percent of the previous batch surveyed.