While the number of South Korean tourists visiting Japan is reaching a record high of nearly 9 million per year, Japanese favorability toward South Korea has dropped to its lowest level in six years.
According to a survey released on August 30 by the East Asia Institute (EAI) in South Korea, the Asia Pacific Initiative (API) in Japan, and the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) in the United States, only 24.8% of Japanese respondents said they had a "good impression" of South Korea. This is the lowest figure since 2019, when it was 20.0%.
The proportion of Japanese respondents who said they had a "bad impression" of South Korea was 51.0%. This marks a sharp increase of 18.2 percentage points compared to 32.8% in 2023, and is the highest figure in ten years since 2015, when it was 52.4%.
Meanwhile, 52.4% of South Korean respondents said they had a "good impression" of Japan, the highest figure since the survey began in 2013. This is more than four times higher than in 2020, when the "No Japan" movement was widespread and the figure was 12.3%. The percentage of those with a "bad impression" of Japan fell to a record low of 37.1%.
The survey included 1,585 South Koreans aged 18 or older, 1,037 Japanese aged 12 or older, and 1,500 Americans aged 12 or older.
When asked about the reasons for having a negative impression of the other country (multiple responses allowed for up to two reasons), 82.8% of South Korean respondents cited "failure to properly reflect on the history of aggression" as the main reason. This was followed by the "Dokdo issue" (48.0%), "unresolved historical issues such as comfort women and forced labor" (41.2%), and "the insincere nature of the Japanese people" (15.3%).
Japanese respondents also cited "historical issues (comfort women and forced labor disputes, 55.0%)" as the top reason. This was followed by "anti-Japanese protests and statements" (52.0%), "negative impression of national character and temperament" (41.6%), "territorial dispute over Dokdo" (35.9%), and "bad impression of the South Korean president" (12.3%).
As for reasons for having a positive impression of the other country, South Koreans pointed to "the kind and diligent nature of the Japanese people" (46.6%) and "Japan's attractive food culture and shopping" (31.7%). Japanese respondents cited "cultural appeal such as movies, music, and sports" (51.8%) and "attractiveness as a travel destination" (44.0%).
However, Japanese respondents were more likely to perceive the bilateral relationship as good. When asked about the state of South Korea-Japan relations, 59.4% of South Koreans answered "average," while 30.0% said "bad," which was higher than the 10.6% who said "good." Among Japanese respondents, 31.8% said relations were "good."
In this survey, 60.7% of South Korean respondents said they had visited Japan, an increase of 23.4 percentage points from 37.3% in 2023. In contrast, 74.4% of Japanese respondents said they had never visited South Korea.
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