86% of Koreans Say Government Should Make More Efforts to Improve Korea-Japan Relations

South Korea 85.8%·Japan 67.6% "Government Must Strive to Improve Korea-Japan Relations"
Significant Perception Gap Between Korea and Japan on Historical Issues Remains

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Both South Korea and Japan agree that improving Korea-Japan relations would benefit their economies, and that their governments should actively work towards improving the relationship.

On the 11th, the Federation of Korean Industries conducted two rounds of public opinion surveys on Korea-Japan relations. Since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, 51% of Koreans and 33.4% of Japanese respondents anticipated an improvement in Korea-Japan relations. The opinion that both governments should make efforts to improve Korea-Japan relations exceeded the majority in both countries, with 85.8% in Korea and 67.6% in Japan.

81% of Koreans and 63% of Japanese believed that improved bilateral relations would contribute to mutual economic development. The percentage of respondents who said that lifting export restrictions would help economic development was higher in Korea at 61%, compared to 39.5% in Japan. The opinion that an early Korea-Japan summit would positively influence bilateral relations also surpassed the majority in Korea at 50.4%. Additionally, 80.6% of Koreans responded that expanding private exchanges between the two countries would help improve relations.

However, significant differences remain in public perceptions regarding the resolution of historical issues, making it important to reduce these differences through expanded mutual exchanges. In Korea, the most common opinion at 51.1% was that “while pursuing the future in bilateral relations, resolving historical issues must also accompany this.” This was followed by “historical issues must be resolved first before thinking about the future” (27.6%) and “for a future-oriented relationship, more emphasis should be placed on the future than the past” (21.3%).

In contrast, in Japan, the most prevalent opinion at 60.8% was that “since an apology has already been made, no further apology is necessary.” Next, 32.4% believed that “an apology is necessary to resolve historical issues, but Korea should refrain from demanding apologies every time there is a change in government.” Only 6.8% responded that “for a future-oriented relationship, additional apologies are necessary, similar to the German Chancellor’s apology related to the Nazis.”

Kim Bong-man, Director of the International Division at the Federation of Korean Industries, stated, “Although there are some differences in perception between the Korean and Japanese publics, there is a consensus on the necessity of improving bilateral relations and the importance of government efforts to that end. Based on this public perception, the governments of both countries should make greater efforts to increase mutual private exchanges, such as expanding visa exemptions during visits to each other’s countries, to improve bilateral relations.”