Greater than 8 in 10 foreigners present favorable view of Korea: survey

Guests take images on the official pop-up retailer for the Netflix animated movie Ok-Pop Demon Hunters, Dec. 4. 2025. Yonhap

Greater than eight in 10 foreigners maintain a positive view of Korea, the very best stage for the reason that annual survey started seven years in the past, a authorities report confirmed Tuesday.

In accordance with the 2025 survey on Korea’s nationwide picture carried out by the Ministry of Tradition, Sports activities and Tourism, 82.3 % of respondents stated they seen Korea positively, up 3.3 proportion factors from a 12 months earlier. The determine marks the very best for the reason that survey was launched in 2018.

By nation, the United Arab Emirates recorded probably the most constructive sentiment at 94.8 %, adopted by Egypt (94 %), the Philippines (91.4 %), Turkey (90.2 %), India (89 %) and South Africa (88.8 %).

Perceptions improved sharply in Britain and Thailand, which rose 9.2 and 9.4 proportion factors to 87.4 % and 86.2 %, respectively. Britain was the one European nation to point out above-average favorability towards Korea.

Even in nations the place views had been historically lukewarm, equivalent to China and Japan, constructive opinions gained floor. China’s rating climbed 3.6 proportion factors to 62.8 %, whereas Japan rose 5.4 factors to 42.2 % — greater than double its 2018 stage of 20 %.

Cultural content material, equivalent to Ok-pop, dramas and movies, was cited as the most important issue influencing constructive perceptions, talked about by 45.2 % of respondents. The influence was strongest in Asian nations, together with the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam. Fashionable life-style, merchandise and types, and the financial system additionally contributed to Korea’s enchantment.

The survey discovered that video platforms had been the commonest supply of publicity to Korea at 64.4 %, adopted by social networks (56.6 %), web sites (46.7 %) and broadcast media (32.8 %).

In-depth interviews with worldwide college students and international correspondents in Korea highlighted constructive assessments of the “resilience” of the nation’s democratic system, demonstrated by the method of its recovering from the aftermath of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial regulation fiasco, which occurred almost a 12 months earlier than the interviews.

The survey was carried out on 13,000 folks aged 16 and older in 26 nations, together with Korea, from Oct. 1-31 final 12 months. Korean respondents had been excluded from the outcomes to gauge the nation’s favorability amongst foreigners.