A joint study by think tanks from South Korea and Japan showed that the people from both countries have improved impressions of each other, while China is increasingly despised by the South Korean public.
The Moon Jae-in administration has mobilized anti-Japanese sentiment since the start of his term and successfully used this as a tool to influence various elections since then, including the 2020 general elections. Moon and other leftists have portrayed conservatives in South Korea as pro-Japanese representatives of deep-rooted evils who should be removed from the country.
While pursuing these policies, Moon was leaning toward China, even saying that he shares Xi Jinping’s idea of the “Chinese Dream.” In one speech in China, Moon called South Korea a “small country” and China the “high mountain peak” and a “big country.” However, the latest survey showed that South Koreans are no longer buying into Moon’s anti-Japanese and pro-China policies.
According to the September 28 study from the East Asia Institute from South Korea and the Genron NPO from Japan, the percentage of South Korean respondents who viewed Japan positively rose 8.2 percentage points from 12.3 percent last year to 20.5 percent. South Koreans who viewed Japan negatively dropped from 71.6 percent to 63.2 percent in the same period. The survey showed that 25.4 percent of Japanese respondents viewed South Korea positively, similar to the 25.9 percent recorded last year. Japanese who viewed South Korea negatively rose slightly from 46.3 percent to 48.8 percent. Even though the figure for Japanese who viewed South Korea positively dropped slightly, the recent survey showed that the gap between this and South Koreans’ opinion of Japanese has narrowed down significantly in a year. The survey studied 1,012 South Koreans and 1,000 Japanese from August to September.
The survey showed that people from both countries agreed on the importance of the relationship between the two countries. 74.6 percent of South Korean respondents said that the two countries should avoid the ongoing confrontation with Japan. In Japan, 54.8 percent agreed.
“It is true that there is sentiment in Japan that we cannot trust South Korea as a negotiating partner after it reversed its previous agreements on historical issues,” said Yasushi Kudo, President of the Genron NPO. It appears that he was referring to the South Korean Supreme Court’s recent decision to order Japanese companies to pay compensation to South Korean workers who argued that they were victims of forced labor during the colonial period. Japan, on the other hand, has maintained that all compensation issues during the colonial period have been resolved under South Korea’s Park Chung-hee administration when Tokyo agreed to provide $500 million in aid and normalize relations.
The East Asia Institute said that the recent change in the sentiment was due to the younger generation who enjoy experiencing each other’s cultures. In Japan, 34.5 percent of respondents said they enjoy South Korean culture, which is nearly twice the 18 percent of respondents in South Korea. More than 40 percent of those who said they enjoy the other country’s culture were between the ages of 18 and 29. According to the survey, 81.2 percent of Japanese respondents who said they are familiar with South Korean culture stated they receive a good impression of South Korea through its cultural products. The 67 percent of South Koreans who consume Japanese cultural products said they get a good impression of Japan from said products.
This was directly reflected in how they view the other country. South Korean people aged between 18 and 29 had the most positive feelings toward Japan. A total of 29.5 percent of people in this age range said they view Japan positively. This was the highest among all age groups and was followed by people in their 50s with 22.1 percent and people in their 30s with 17.9 percent. Positive feeling was low among people in their 40s with 15.7 percent. In South Korea, people in their 40s are considered the most liberal generation, and many of them are hardcore supporters of the current Moon Jae-in administration. The approval ratings of the Moon administration have not fallen much among people in their 40s in recent months.
In Japan, on the other hand, 37 percent of people in their 40s view South Korea positively, the highest of all age groups. It was followed by people aged between 18 and 29 with 35.7 percent and those in their 30s with 34.3 percent. Older Japanese people expressed more negative feelings toward South Korea. The survey showed that only 21.7 percent of Japanese in their 50s view South Korea positively and 14.5 percent of them in their 60s did so.
Although the general sentiment between South Korea and Japan seemed to improve, their views on strengthening military ties was different. For South Korean respondents, the percentage of people who said trilateral military cooperation with the United States and Japan is necessary rose from 53.6 percent in 2020 to 64.2 percent. However, the figure from Japan (for trilateral cooperation with US and ROK forces) dropped from 38.9 percent to 36 percent over the same period.
When asked whether South Korea should be involved in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue alliance, or the Quad, alongside the United States, India, Japan, and Australia, 51.1 percent of South Koreans said it should. On the other hand, only 11.4 percent of Japanese respondents said South Korea should join, while 39.4 percent said they do not need to be involved.
According to the East Asia Institute, the recent changes in South Koreans’ sentiment toward China have influenced their views on expanding military cooperation with other key powers in the region. According to a survey of only South Koreans, 61.8 percent believed that China poses a military threat to Seoul. The figure rose significantly from 44.3 percent in the previous year. The survey showed that 73.8 percent of South Koreans view China negatively, an increase from 59.4 percent in 2020.
When asked why they have a negative viewpoint towards China, 65.2 percent said it is because of the Chinese coercion, such as its retaliation against South Korean businesses for the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system. An additional 43.8 percent said it is because “China does not respect South Korea,” and 31.9 percent said it is because China has a one-party governance system. Multiple answers were allowed for this question.
While it seems the South Korean and Japanese people are drawing closer together, China’s aggressive actions are hurting the region’s public perceptions of Beijing.
