In the survey, released Wednesday, 47.9 percent of Japanese respondents said they support the deal on “comfort women” and 20.9 percent said they disapprove of it.
In South Korea, the deal was rejected by 37.6 percent of respondents and approved by 28.1 percent.
The annual survey, the fourth of its kind, was carried out in June and July by The Genron NPO, a Japanese nonprofit organization, and the East Asia Institute, a South Korean think tank. Some 1,000 respondents in each country gave valid answers.
The survey also found that 44.6 of Japanese respondents have a bad impression of South Korea, down 7.8 percentage points from the previous survey. The South Korean negative impression rate against Japan was at 61.0 percent, down 11.5 points.
Genron head Yasushi Kudo attributed this to extensive media coverage of efforts by the Japanese and South Korean leaders to mend bilateral relations.
The survey also found that 38.2 percent of Japanese respondents feel closer to South Korea than China, and 5.1 percent closer to China than South Korea. In South Korea, only 12.8 percent prefer Japan to China, while 34.2 percent feel closer to China than to Japan, although the figure dropped from 41.0 percent.
As for which country they think is the most important for their nations’ futures, 65.9 percent of Japanese named the United States, while 47.1 percent of South Koreans cited China, topping 39.8 percent for the United States.