South Korea ranked 12th out of 17 in terms of image, and second to last ahead of Russia among the 13 members of the G20. Asia-Pacific countries tended to view South Korea positively, with 57 percent of Filipinos, 53 percent U.S. nationals, and 51 percent Indonesians. But 51 percent of Germans, 50 percent of Chinese and 47 percent of French viewed the country negatively.
In China, the proportion of people who had positive views about South Korea plummeted 21 percent from the year before, while the proportion with negative views skyrocketed 30 percent.
The East Asia Institute, the Korean partner of the survey, said the reason negative views among Chinese increased is due to disputes between the two countries caused by the widening gap in views about how to deal with North Korea. Conflicts in cyberspace between young people in the two countries also had an impact.
"In the past, South Korea's trade was heavily dependent on Japan and the U.S., but it is rapidly being diversified to include China and the EU. Urgent measures need to be taken to improve the national image," the EAI added.
Germany had the best image with 62 percent, followed by the U.K. with 58 percent and third place shared among Canada, the EU and Japan with 57 percent. Brazil’s rating soared 9 percent to 49 percent a year ago due to its successful economic development, and South Africa's by 7 percent to 42 percent, probably because it hosted the 2010 World Cup.