Thailand, United States, United Kingdom, and France Show Over 80% Favorability Toward Japan
Favorability Toward South Korea Up 5 Percentage Points in Thailand and France
74% of Koreans Say "Trump Has a Bad Influence on the World"
Japanese media have reported the results of a public opinion poll showing that more than half of Koreans feel positively toward Japan.
On February 8, the Japan Press Research Institute, a public interest incorporated foundation, announced that in its media survey on attitudes toward Japan, conducted between November and December last year on about 1,000 people each in six countries - South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and Thailand - 56.4% of Korean respondents said they had a favorable impression of Japan.
Compared with the previous year, this Korean response was an increase of 15.8 percentage points. Since the survey began in 2014, this is the first time that Koreans' favorability toward Japan has exceeded 50%. Favorability toward Japan among Koreans was relatively high among those in their teens, 20s, and 30s, while it was lowest among those in their 50s at 45.6%.
However, the figure was low compared with other countries. In Thailand, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, favorability toward Japan exceeded 80% in all cases. Even in Russia, where the figure fell by 12.5 percentage points from the previous year, it stood at 56.5%, slightly higher than in South Korea.
As for favorability toward South Korea in the surveyed countries, it was relatively high in Thailand and France. Thailand recorded 75.1%, up 5.5 percentage points from the previous year, and France also rose 5.5 percentage points to 68.1%. They were followed by Russia (61.7%), the United States (50.9%), and the United Kingdom (42.2%) in terms of favorability toward South Korea.
President Lee Jaemyung and Takaichi Sanae, Prime Minister of Japan, were playing the drums together in the reception room after a summit in Nara Prefecture, Japan, on the 13th of last month. Takaichi was active as the drummer of a heavy metal rock band during her school days. Yonhap News
Regarding U.S. President Donald Trump, who has advocated an America First policy, negative assessments outweighed positive ones in every country. The share of respondents who said that President Trump has a bad influence on the world was highest in South Korea at 73.7%. The figure also exceeded 70% in France and Thailand, and was 62.3% in the United Kingdom, followed by the United States at 57.9% and Russia at 52.2%. In all of the countries surveyed, more than 50% of respondents said they did not want someone like President Trump to become the leader of their own country.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are talking as they leave the meeting room after concluding the U.S.-China summit at Naraemaru inside the Air Force 5th Air Mobility Wing in Busan on October 30 last year. Yonhap News
Koreans most frequently chose China as the country that poses a threat to world peace. The figure was 28.7%, up 9.1 percentage points from the 2023 response. It was followed by North Korea (21.7%), Russia (18.8%), and the United States (16.4%). Compared with 2023, the figure for North Korea fell by 6.6 percentage points, and that for Russia fell by 3.1 percentage points, while the figure for the United States rose by 4.0 percentage points.
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