By TATSUYA SATO/ Staff Writer
February 20, 2021 at 17:27 JST
A scene from the South Korean drama "Crash Landing on You" (Provided by Netflix)
More Japanese harbor warm feelings about South Korea despite a surge among those who no longer believe the bilateral relationship is important for the Asia-Pacific region.
That is one finding in a public opinion survey by the Cabinet Office about diplomatic matters. The results were announced Feb. 19.
It found that a majority of respondents aged between 18 and 29 felt some familiarity with South Korea, which more than likely reflects various cultural elements from the Asian neighbor now readily available in Japan.
Asked whether the development of the Japan-South Korea relationship was important to the two nations as well as the Asia-Pacific region, a combined 40.4 percent of respondents said either “not important” or “somewhat not important.” The figure marked an increase of 2.7 percentage points over last year’s survey and is the highest since the question was first asked in the 2015 survey.
On the other hand, there was an increase of 8.2 percentage points among those who felt some or much familiarity with South Korea for a combined total of 34.9 percent. The ratio was higher among female respondents at 42.5 percent in comparison to the 27 percent of men. The ratio of familiarity was markedly noticeable among younger age groups.
A Foreign Ministry official handling the survey said South Korean TV dramas such as "Crash Landing on You" and South Korean pop music were likely factors behind the trend.
Questionnaires were mailed out for the first time due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Face-to-face interviews were the norm in the past.
Three thousand people received the questionnaires between October and December and valid responses were received from 1,865 people.
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