ADRN

A survey showed that a majority of Japanese and Korean people have feelings of animosity for each other's countries.

 

The survey conducted jointly by South Korea's East Asia Institute and a Japan's Genron NPO found that 71 percent of Koreans who participated had a negative impression of Japan, while 54 percent of Japanese surveyed had a negative impression of Korea.

 

Korean animosity for Japan actually fell by six percentage points from last year's survey, however Japanese animosity for Korea grew by 17 percentage points, making last year's anti-Korean minority into a majority this year.

 

The most common reasons for the negativity were related to history. Koreans with animosity for Japan said that Tokyo's failure to adequately address its wrongdoings was a major factor. Japanese with animosity for Korea said that it was because Korea continues to criticize Japan on historical issues.

 

Most Koreans and Japanese both saw North Korea as the biggest military threat for their countries. Most Koreans chose Japan as the second biggest threat, while most Japanese picked China.

 

The latest survey was conducted over a period of two months with participation from one-thousand-four Koreans and one-thousand Japanese.

 

The poll has a confidence level of 95 percent with a margin of error of plus or minus three-point-one percent.