Korea's Positive View of Japan Exceeds 50% — But Japan's Korea View Hits 6-Year Low

Korean favorability toward Japan has exceeded 50% for the first time in history. Conversely, Japanese favorability toward Korea has fallen to its lowest level in 6 years. While governments pursue cooperation at the diplomatic level, public sentiment in both countries is moving in opposite directions.

This survey was conducted by Korean think tank East Asia Institute (EAI) from August 18-20, with 4,122 respondents. Korean favorability toward Japan rose 10.6 percentage points year-on-year to exceed 50%, a historic high. Meanwhile, Japanese favorability toward Korea continued declining, with negative perceptions exceeding 50% — the lowest in 6 years.

Factors behind improved Korean perceptions of Japan include: Japan travel boom and expanded influence of J-POP, anime, and popular culture; improved Korea-Japan relations under the Yoon Seok-youl administration; Korea-US-Japan security cooperation strengthening; and growing expectation of semiconductor/battery supply chain cooperation. Deteriorating Japanese perceptions of Korea reflect: ongoing historical/political conflicts (forced labor, comfort women issues); Korean news being consumed in negative frames in Japanese media; and spread of "Korea fatigue" among Japanese conservatives.

In the international context, Korea-US-Japan cooperation has grown politically and security-wise amid US-China tensions, but the gap in public opinion remains wide. The "divergence" phenomenon — rising Korea-Japan favorability in Korea versus declining Korea favorability in Japan — poses potential burdens on diplomatic momentum. Short-term outlook: Korean favorability toward Japan can be maintained if summit diplomacy continues. But if negative perceptions in Japan don''t ease, bilateral cooperation will depend only on summit-level diplomacy. Without recovering balance in public opinion, structural stability in the bilateral relationship will be difficult to achieve.