Koreans Say 'Trump Is Disliked'... Lowest Trust Among US Allies

Pew Research Survey Results... Most Allies Show Declining Ratings
Trump's Trust Decline Greater Than That of the US
Trump Ranks Last Among World Leaders, Behind Xi Jinping and Putin

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] A survey revealed that only 17% of Koreans trust U.S. President Donald Trump. While trust in the United States was highest in Korea, public opinion showed that Koreans trust the U.S. but do not trust Trump.

On the 15th (local time), the U.S. polling organization Pew Research Center released the results of a survey on the reputation of the United States conducted among citizens of 13 major U.S. allied countries, including South Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, and European countries.

Among Koreans, 17% responded that they trust President Trump. This is a sharp drop of 29 percentage points from 46% last year. It was the largest decline among the surveyed countries.

Koreans' trust in President Trump rose from 17% in his first year in office to the 40% range in 2018, but returned to the initial level this year. Koreans maintained a trust level of 70-80% during the tenure of former President Barack Obama.

In other surveyed countries, trust in President Trump mostly remained in the 10-20% range.

On the other hand, the favorability toward the United States was highest in Korea at 59%. However, this also showed a significant decline compared to 77% the previous year.

Trust in the United States also dropped sharply in other countries. In Japan, it fell from 68% last year to 41% this year. Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany recorded all-time lows.

When asked to name the world's leading economic power, the United States was ranked first in Korea and Japan, but China was chosen in European countries, Canada, and Australia.

Regarding trust in major national leaders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel ranked first with 76%. President Trump was last with 16%, trailing behind Russian President Vladimir Putin (23%) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (19%).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.