WASHINGTON, DC (April 2, 2025) – A new public opinion poll commissioned by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and conducted by The Harris Poll examined U.S. public attitudes toward peace and humanitarian engagement with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) and China. Like the 2024 AFSC/Harris Poll survey, 2023 AFSC/Harris Poll Survey and a 2021 AFSC/IPSOS poll, a majority of adults living in the U.S. continue to believe the U.S. government should work with these countries to strengthen relationships and reduce tensions.
The poll indicates that seven in ten members of the U.S. public believe that the U.S. president should offer to hold meetings with the North Korean leader (70% in 2025, 69% in 2024, 68% in 2023). Three-quarters of U.S. adults (75%) think that the U.S. government should work with the North Korean government to repatriate the remains of U.S. service members left in North Korea following the Korean War. A majority of the U.S. public continues to say that the U.S. should engage in dialogue with China as much as possible to reduce tensions (63% in 2025, 62% in 2024, 67% in 2023 vs. 62% who felt this way in 2021).
"Despite the changing geopolitical environment and rising tensions around the globe, it's deeply encouraging to see continued support among the U.S. public for the U.S. to engage diplomatically with North Korea and China,” said Austin Headrick, AFSC’s Asia Region Public Education Advocacy Coordinator. “My hope is that the results of this survey signaling a desire to end long-standing conflicts and place principled engagement at the center of U.S. foreign policy will be heard by policymakers in Washington. People in the U.S. support engagement—our government should too."
AFSC has been engaged with North Korea since 1980. As a Quaker organization, AFSC works to build mutual understanding and cooperation between the U.S. and North Korea. As part of that work, AFSC conducts periodic polling to capture the attitudes of U.S. voters towards engagement with North Korea, China, and the region.
The 2025 poll shows majority support for changes in sanctions policy. Sixty one percent of Americans agree that the U.S. should lift sanctions when they violate international legal principles, interfere with humanitarian aid and global health (63%), and damage economic activity and livelihoods of ordinary citizens (59%). You can read the following article for a breakdown of important results from this study.
“Too many polls on peace and security fail to ask about the things the U.S. public does want to see, like concrete steps towards peacebuilding,” said Beth Hallowell, PhD, AFSC’s Director of Campaigns and Communications Analytics. “Engaging with North Korea on issues such as reuniting families and repatriating service members’ remains, engaging in dialogue with China to reduce tensions, and lifting damaging sanctions are all steps the U.S. can take now to make the world more peaceful today.”
The 2025 survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of AFSC from February 10 - 12, 2025, among 2,076 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The 2024 survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of AFSC from January 23 – 25, 2024 among 2,078 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The 2023 survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of AFSC from January 17 - 19, 2023 among 2,063 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The 2021 survey was conducted online by Ipsos on behalf of the American Friends Service Committee between September 24-27, 2021, among a sample of 1,004 U.S. adults ages 18 and older.
The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. You can read the entire report here. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Beth Hallowell at research@afsc.org.
AFSC’s experts who conducted this poll are also available for interviews:
Austin Headrick serves as the Asia Regional Advocacy Coordinator at AFSC, where he promotes just and peaceful U.S. foreign policy toward Asia. Prior to joining AFSC, Austin spent nearly a decade in the field of peace education in South Korea, working with both international and grassroots peacebuilding organizations. During his time based in South Korea, Austin traveled across the region to support peacebuilding trainings with university students and civil society practitioners in China, Japan, and the Philippines. In 2023, Austin graduated from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul with an MA in Korean Studies focusing on the challenges facing South Korean NGOs working in North Korea. Austin is fluent in written and spoken Korean.
Beth Hallowell, PhD, has worked on this poll for AFSC since its first run in 2021. Her expertise includes strategic communications, opinion and messaging research, and audience insights. Prior to AFSC, Beth focused on health inequality in the Americas. She has conducted research on the Affordable Care Act rollout in southeastern Pennsylvania and the impact of public health interventions on maternity care in rural Guatemala. Beth received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 2015, where she also teaches.
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The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide, of all faiths and backgrounds, to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.