Americans’ views on the possibility of North Korea attacking the U.S. are tilted substantially toward the “unlikely” side of the scale among those who are following the news closely and among those who are not doing so.

Those closely following the news of North Korea say the U.S. should help defend South Korea, by 66% to 27%, while those not closely following the news tilt toward saying the U.S. should not come to South Korea’s aid, by 48% to 37%. This large difference suggests that if more Americans begin to pay close attention to the North Korean situation in the days ahead, the level of support for U.S. intervention in the event of an attack against South Korea may increase.