Survey:  52% in Japan, 55% in South Korea Say Relations Are Positive; Japan Cautious Over New S. Korean President

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:39 JST, June 25, 2025

A recent public opinion survey showed 52% of respondents in Japan felt the country had a good relationship with South Korea, while 55% of those in South Korea said the same about Japan. Both figures rose from last year’s 50% for Japanese and 42% for South Koreans.

It was the first time since the survey began in 1995 that the percentage of South Koreans giving positive responses marked more than 50% and positive views exceeded negative ones. It was the second consecutive year that the percentage of Japanese giving positive responses marked 50% or more.

The survey was conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun and South Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo between June 13 and 15.

In South Korea, the left-leaning Lee Jae-myung administration was inaugurated on June 4, but the trend of friendly Japan-South Korea relations under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration appears to be continuing.

Forty-seven percent of Japanese respondents said they felt a sense of closeness with South Korea, while 41% in South Korea said the same about Japan. The figures remained the same level from last year for Japan and increased from 33% for South Korea, seeing a rise for the second consecutive year.

Evaluations of the new South Korean president, who has made anti-Japanese remarks in the past, yielded contrasting results between Japan and South Korea, with 57% in Japan saying they did not have high expectations for him, while 31% said they did. In South Korea, 65% said they did, while 33% said they did not.

Regarding future bilateral relations under the Lee administration, 62% of Japanese respondents said they expected no change, 24% expected them to worsen and 6% expected them to improve. In South Korea, 36% expected relations to improve, 33% expected no change and 24% expected them to worsen.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the countries following the signing of the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea.

In Japan, 47% of the respondents said they believed the two countries have built friendly relations overall, while 45% said they have not. In South Korea, 41% said they have, while 52% said they have not.

Meanwhile, 76% of Japanese respondents and 67% of South Korean respondents expressed concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy. Additionally, 83% — down from 86% last year — of Japanese respondents supported the idea of increased security cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea, while 85% of South Korean respondents — up from 79% last year — supported the idea.

The spread of disinformation and misinformation through social media is a serious issue in Japan and South Korea, and 88% of Japanese respondents believed such information would influence voter behavior, while 89% of South Korean respondents shared this view.

The survey was conducted via telephone among voters aged 18 and older in Japan and South Korea. It received 1,014 responses in Japan and 1,000 in South Korea.