Two out of three Japanese people "Worry about the impact of Korean emergency martial law situation on Korea-Japan relations"

NHK Public Opinion Survey

A public opinion survey revealed that two out of three Japanese people are concerned about the impact of South Korea's emergency martial law situation on Japan-South Korea relations.

Shigeru Ishiba, Prime Minister of Japan. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 9th (local time), NHK reported that in a telephone survey conducted from the 6th to the 8th with 1,224 respondents, 66% answered that they are 'very or somewhat concerned' about the confusion caused by President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of emergency martial law and its impact on Japan-South Korea relations.

Those who said they are 'not at all or not very concerned' about the impact on Japan-South Korea relations accounted for 25%.

In this survey, the approval rating of the cabinet led by Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru fell by 3 percentage points from last month's survey to 38%. The percentage of those who do not support the cabinet rose by 1 percentage point, matching the approval rating at 38%.

Regarding party support ratings, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had the highest at 28.7%, followed by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party at 8.7%, the third party Democratic Party for the People at 7.9%, and the second opposition Japan Innovation Party at 3.4%. 35.6% of respondents said they do not support any party.

Meanwhile, Kyodo News reported that Prime Minister Ishiba is coordinating plans to postpone his visit to South Korea, originally scheduled for early next month due to the martial law situation, and instead visit Malaysia and Indonesia during that period. However, it appears that Prime Minister Ishiba has not completely abandoned the idea of visiting South Korea.