According to a recent survey, four out of ten Koreans see Japan as a military threat and one out of three think South Korea's relations with China is more important than that with Japan. The East Asia Institute, a South Korea think-tank, and The Genron NPO, a Japanese civic organization, held a press conference in Tokyo on May 7 and announced the results of an awareness survey conducted in March-April of 1,004 South Koreans over the age of 19 and 1,000 Japanese over the age of 18.

 

When asked which countries posed a military threat, South Korean respondents chose Japan (43.9%) after North Korea (86.7%) and China (47.8%). The responses appear to have been influenced by a series of movements toward the right in Japan, such as Shinzo Abe's efforts to amend the "peace constitution" and to strengthen Japan's Self-Defense Forces to a full fledged military. Japanese respondents chose South Korea (12.2%) after North Korea (78.9%), China (60.1%), and Russia (19%).

 

While only 3.4% of Koreans answered that the relationship between the two countries were good, 67.4% said that the relationship was in bad shape. As for the Japanese, 11.3% answered that the bilateral relationship was good, and 55.1% answered that it was bad.

 

 

 

On October 20, 2010, a Japanese naval vessel with a Rising Sun Flag is at anchor at Yokosuka,

a military port of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. Kim Seok-gu

 

In addition, 46.7% of Koreans and 39.6% of Japanese respondents said that the Korea-Japan relationship had deteriorated in the past year, during which conflicts between the two countries had intensified.

 

The two countries also held different views on historical issues. While 41.5% of the Korean respondents said that progress in Korea-Japan relations would be difficult without a resolution of historical issues, only 25.9% of the Japanese agreed.

 

Koreans answered that Korea-China relations were more important than Korea-Japan relations (35.8%), surpassing the 9.3%, who thought Korea-Japan relations were more important. Meanwhile, 20% of the Japanese respondents thought Korea-Japan relations were more important, outnumbering those who thought China-Japan relations were more important (13.9%).

 

When asked what came to mind when they thought of their neighboring country (multiple responses), Koreans answered Dokdo (84.4%), comfort women (61.5%), and the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident (24.9%). The Japanese respondents answered Korean food (59.1%), Dokdo (56.7%), and Korean dramas and K-pop (47.2%).