Half of US citizens favor using American troops to defend South Korea in the event of a North Korean invasion, a recent US poll showed Thursday, underscoring the public polarization over the security issue.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs recently released the outcome of the 2023 Chicago Council Survey conducted by Ipsos, a market research firm, from Sept. 7-18. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

The poll found that 50 percent of those questioned supported the idea of committing US troops to defend South Korea if it was invaded by the North, while 49 percent opposed it.

In previous surveys conducted in 2020, 2021 and last year, the percentages of those backing the idea were 58 percent, 63 percent and 55 percent, respectively.

In the latest poll, a majority of Americans -- 57 percent -- continued to favor the mobilization of US troops if Russia invaded a Baltic NATO state namely Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia, and an even higher proportion -- 64 percent -- favored the use of US troops if Germany were invaded by Russia.

On the question of whether the US should have long-term military bases in South Korea, 64 percent responded positively.

"It is possible that the ongoing war in Ukraine has highlighted the costs to the United States of coming to the aid of US allies," the council said in a conclusion. (Yonhap)