37% of Japanese People Say They Like Korea, a Sharp Increase... "Highest Ever Recorded"

Nikkei's Own Survey... "Dislike Korea" Public Opinion Also Drops by 10 Percentage Points
Responses Disliking China and Russia Exceed 70%

In Japan, favorable feelings toward South Korea have significantly increased. The number of Japanese respondents who answered "I like Korea" reached an all-time high since the survey began. Japanese media analyzed this as "a result of the rapid improvement in Korea-Japan relations."

A view of Shin-Okubo Korea Town. (Photo by Shin-Okubo Shopping District Promotion Association)

On the 19th, Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported that in its own postal survey conducted from October to November last year, 37% of respondents answered "I like Korea" when asked about their favorable feelings toward countries and regions. This is the highest figure since the survey started in 2018.

This favorable opinion increased by 10 percentage points compared to the previous survey conducted in 2022. The percentage of respondents who answered "I dislike Korea" was 41%, which is a 10 percentage point decrease from last year.

There were slight differences by gender and generation. Among those in their teens and twenties (10s and 20s), more than half responded that they like Korea, and among women, 41% said they liked Korea, significantly surpassing the 34% who said they disliked it.

Nikkei cited experts who analyzed this as a result of improved Korea-Japan relations since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Professor Susumu Kohari of Shizuoka Prefectural University told Nikkei, "Since the birth of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, reports on diplomatic friction with Korea have decreased, and reports on Korea-Japan or Korea-US-Japan cooperation have increased, likely reducing the proportion of negative public opinion." Professor Kohari added, "K-pop fans in their teens and twenties overlap with consumers of Korean cosmetics, and the influence of the Korean Wave (Hallyu) also likely increased positive responses."

Nikkei noted, "In the 2019 survey, the percentage of respondents who liked Korea dropped to as low as 14%," and added, "Since President Yoon took office in May 2022, Korea-Japan relations, which had cooled during former President Moon Jae-in's administration, have improved."

It also emphasized that South Korea's feelings toward Japan are changing. According to a joint Korea-Japan public opinion survey conducted by Japanese non-profit organizations and media NPOs from August to September last year, 28.9% of Koreans answered "good" when asked about their impression of Japan. This is a significant improvement compared to 12.3% in 2020. The percentage of respondents who answered "bad impression" also eased significantly from 71.6% in 2020 to 53.3%.

On the other hand, Japan's feelings toward China and Russia remain unfavorable. According to the Nikkei survey, 74% of respondents answered "I dislike China," marking the sixth consecutive year with figures in the 70% range. Only 6% answered "I like China." Moreover, 87% said they "feel threatened by China." This is believed to be influenced by heightened tensions within Japan due to China's indications of invading Taiwan.

Regarding Russia, 88% of respondents said they "feel threatened," matching the level for China, and 75% said they "dislike" Russia, maintaining figures in the 70% range for two consecutive years since the invasion of Ukraine.

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