Favorability of Koreans Toward Japan Rises... Highest Level Since 2015

South Korea's favorability toward Japan has gradually improved.

The Sankei Shimbun reported this on the 18th, citing the annual survey results from the Japan Newspaper and Communications Council.

According to the survey conducted last November to December among about 1,000 respondents each from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, South Korea, and Thailand, the percentage of respondents who said they "have a favorable impression of Japan" was highest in Thailand at 91.1%. France (81.5%) ranked second, followed by the United States (80.4%) and the United Kingdom (71.1%).

South Korea had the lowest percentage of respondents with a favorable impression of Japan among the five countries, at 44%.

Street scene in Tokyo, Japan. The photo is not directly related to the article content. [Image source=Pixabay]

원본보기 아이콘

However, this represents a 4.1 percentage point increase from the previous year's survey (39.9%) and is the highest figure since the related survey began in 2015. The 39.9% from the previous year was also an 8.7 percentage point increase from the December 2021 survey.

Additionally, although South Korean respondents have shown low favorability toward Japan in this survey every year, their interest in Japanese news has been high. In this survey as well, the response rate for "I am interested in and watch or listen to news about Japan" was 77.9% in South Korea, second only to Thailand (78%).

The Sankei Shimbun analyzed, "In this survey conducted since 2015, South Korea's favorability toward Japan is at an all-time high," and added, "The attitude of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, which has pursued improving relations with Japan, has raised favorability."

However, in the same survey last year, South Koreans were generally negative in response to the question, "Is Japan contributing to peace and security in East Asia?" Among all respondents, 61.8% answered "not contributing."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.