(image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — The mutual approval rate between South Korea and Japan has recovered to the levels of 2019, prior to the outbreak of the boycott movement against Japanese products, a survey showed Thursday.
The percentage of South Koreans with a favorable view of the neighboring country rose from 20.5 percent last year to 30.6 percent this year, according to the annual survey jointly conducted by the East Asia Institute (EAI) and Genron NPO.
It is the highest since 2019 (31.7 percent), ever since the surveys began in 2013.
Of the 1,000 respondents, South Koreans with a negative impression of Japan dropped from 73.2 percent last year to 52.8 percent this year.
Japan’s positive views toward South Korea also rose from 25.4 percent to 30.4 percent. It is the highest percentage after 2013 (31.1 percent).
Japan’s negative views toward South Korea dropped from 48.8 percent to 40.3 percent, also the lowest percentage since 2013 (37.3 percent).
At 53.5 percent and 52.2 percent, more than half of teenagers in South Korea and Japan respectively had a good perception of each other, becoming the only age group in which more than half of the members had a positive perception of each other.
In contrast, 22.9 percent and 25.4 percent of those in their 60s in South Korea and Japan respectively had the worst perception towards each other among all age groups.
The share of South Koreans that have hopes about the positive future of Seoul-Tokyo relations rose from 18.4 percent last year to 30 percent this year.
An increasing number of Japanese, too, shared a similar feeling, going from 17.2 percent last year to 29.9 percent this year.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
