North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stands in front of the Peace House to announce the Panmunjom Declaration after his summit with President Moon Jae-in at the demilitarized zone, April 27. / Joint press corps

By Park Ji-won

A growing number of South Koreans, especially young people, are changing their thoughts about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after seeing a different side of him at the inter-Korean summit on April 27.

Office worker Jeong Ye-ji, 30, said she started to rethink the North's chief after watching the summit live on television. Jeong used to consider Kim crazy. However, she now thinks Kim is sly like a fox.

"I changed my mind after seeing him acting in a political manner and being polite to President Moon," Jeong said.

A media survey conducted by KBS also supports the polished image of Kim: More than 80 percent of 1,077 people in the poll altered their perceptions of Kim in a positive direction after the summit. It said those over the age of 40 especially changed their minds.

"I thought Kim was a young person with a sense of humor when I saw him spontaneously inviting Moon to cross over the borderline to the North," said jobseeker Na Kyung-hee, 25.

Some even uploaded parody photos and pictures of Kim online, made from footage of the summit.

"The basic public perception of the North Korean leader has largely changed after they witnessed that he was pretty much open-minded and westernized," Sungkonghoe University media professor Choi Jin-bong said.

However, some urge caution in thinking of a dictator is an ordinary person when we think about the past.

"I never changed my mind about him. To me, he is a full-time dictator who suppresses human rights. We should never forget that," said a 29-year-old surnamed Kim who asked for anonymity.

As for online users uploading of parody images of Kim, some point out it is okay but people shouldn't overlook the reality.

"I think it is okay to consume him as a cute figure, because it does not necessarily mean people accept him positively. Anyone who emerges as a new target for online play can be consumed," an office worker surnamed Jeon, 31, said.

"When I visited my grandmother in the hospital in a North Gyeongsang provincial town, an old woman in the same room turned off the television when the summit was on the air and said 'I don't want to watch this crap.' I think many old people, who are conservative in particular, will never change their minds about Kim," office worker Kim Han-baek, 29, said.