The telephone-based public opinion poll jointly conducted by Nikkei Inc. [and TV Tokyo on March 23–25] found broad support for a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with 74% in favor and only 15% opposed. Some 79% of cabinet supporters and 73% of cabinet nonsupporters said they are in favor of holding the summit.

Asked how the international community should respond to Pyongyang’s missile launches and nuclear weapons development, 49% urged “tougher economic sanctions.” Another 36% said “the situation should be resolved through dialogue,” up 7 points from the poll conducted on Jan. 26–28, while 10% said “military action should be considered.”

Some 57% of cabinet supporters said that “tougher economic sanctions” should be taken, easily exceeding the 27% who said “the situation should be resolved through dialogue.” Cabinet nonsupporters were split on the issue, with 45% supporting “tougher economic sanctions” and 43% saying “dialogue.”

[Polling methodology: The survey was conducted on March 23–25 by Nikkei Research Inc. via random-digit dialing (RDD) to both landlines and mobile phones. It drew 1,015 responses from men and women aged 18 and older nationwide, for a response rate of 49.6%.]