survey

More than eight in 10 foreigners hold a favorable view of South Korea, the highest level since the annual survey began seven years ago, a government report showed Tuesday.

According to the 2025 survey on South Korea’s national image conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 82.3 percent of respondents said they viewed South Korea positively, up 3.3 percentage points from a year earlier. The figure marks the highest since the survey was launched in 2018.

By country, the United Arab Emirates recorded the most positive sentiment at 94.8 percent, followed by Egypt (94 percent), the Philippines (91.4 percent), Turkey (90.2 percent), India (89 percent) and South Africa (88.8 percent).

Perceptions improved sharply in Britain and Thailand, which rose 9.2 and 9.4 percentage points to 87.4 percent and 86.2 percent, respectively. Britain was the only European country to show above-average favorability toward Korea.

Even in countries where views were traditionally lukewarm, such as China and Japan, positive opinions gained ground. China’s score climbed 3.6 percentage points to 62.8 percent, while Japan rose 5.4 points to 42.2 percent — more than double its 2018 level of 20 percent.

Cultural content, such as K-pop, dramas and films, was cited as the biggest factor influencing positive perceptions, mentioned by 45.2 percent of respondents. The impact was strongest in Asian countries, including the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam. Modern lifestyle, products and brands, and the economy also contributed to Korea’s appeal.

The survey found that video platforms were the most common source of exposure to Korea at 64.4 percent, followed by social networks (56.6 percent), websites (46.7 percent) and broadcast media (32.8 percent).

In-depth interviews with international students and foreign correspondents in South Korea highlighted positive assessments of the “resilience” of the country’s democratic system, demonstrated by the process of its recovering from the aftermath of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law fiasco, which occurred nearly a year before the interviews.

The survey was conducted on 13,000 people aged 16 and older in 26 countries, including South Korea, from Oct. 1-31 last year. Korean respondents were excluded from the results to gauge the country’s favorability among foreigners.

Copyright (c) Yonhap News Agency prohibits its content from being redistributed or reprinted without consent, and forbids the content from being learned and used by artificial intelligence systems.

Jan. 13 (Asia Today) — About 42.7% of South Korean small business owners expect the business environment to worsen this year, with most saying they need financial support, an industry group said Tuesday.

The Small Business Association said its “2026 New Year business conditions survey” found 53.3% of respondents rated their business environment in 2025 as poor, while 33.6% said it was average and 13.0% said it was good.

Respondents cited weaker domestic demand and reduced consumption as the top factor behind poor conditions, at 77.4%. Other reasons included higher financial costs tied to interest rates and rising debt, at 33.4%, increased raw material and supply costs, at 28.3%, and labor cost burdens and staffing difficulties, at 26.4%.

On business performance, 69.2% described results in 2024 as poor, down 15.9 percentage points from the previous year, the association said.

For 2025, the largest share of respondents, 20.5%, projected average monthly operating profit between 1 million won and less than 2 million won ($760-$1,520). Another 17.9% expected 0 to less than 1 million won ($0-$760) and 17.1% expected 2 million to less than 3 million won ($1,520-$2,280). Overall, 58.2% reported expected monthly operating profit below 3 million won ($2,280), including those posting losses.

By sector, the share earning less than 3 million won was highest in hair and beauty, at 67.7%. The figure was also high among businesses with no employees, at 69.9%, compared with firms that had workers.

For this year’s outlook, 29.7% said conditions would remain about the same, while 27.6% expected improvement. Wholesale and retail showed the highest expectation of deterioration, at 45.8%, and businesses operating for seven years or more also posted a high pessimism rate, at 46.9%.

Respondents said the most burdensome cost item this year would be financial costs such as interest, at 48.7%, followed by labor costs, at 38.1%, raw material costs, at 36.7%, and rent, at 33.5%.

On hiring, 57.3% said they plan to maintain current staffing levels, while 22.8% were undecided. Some 11.8% said they expect to reduce headcount and 8.0% plan to expand. Manufacturing showed a higher plan to add workers than other sectors, while firms with three to four employees more often anticipated cutting staff.

For funding conditions, 69.1% said access to financing is difficult. The most common concerns were high interest burdens, at 59.4%, insufficient loan limits, at 49.7%, and complicated administrative procedures, at 28.8%.

Looking ahead, respondents said the biggest risk to operations is weak domestic demand tied to low growth, at 77.7%. Other pressures included consumer price increases linked to exchange rates and import costs, at 36.7%, and minimum wage hikes, at 31.9%.

When asked what support is most needed, 71.9% chose financial support. Tax support followed at 39.0%, with marketing and sales channel support at 22.9% and efforts to reduce excessive or overlapping regulations by industry at 19.0%, the association said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Dec. 30 (Asia Today) — More than half of German respondents said they would recommend unification of the Korean Peninsula, drawing on their own country’s experience with reunification, according to a new international survey released Tuesday.

The findings came from the 2025 Global Unification Awareness Survey conducted by the Institute for Unification Studies, which polled 1,000 respondents in each of eight countries.

Among German respondents, 62.2% answered positively when asked whether they would recommend Korean unification based on Germany’s reunification experience. Of those, 17.9% said they “strongly agree,” while 44.3% said they “somewhat agree.”

When asked about the necessity of Korean unification, 55.4% of Germans responded positively. However, only 29.9% said they believe inter-Korean unification is realistically possible, highlighting a significant gap between perceived necessity and feasibility.

A similar pattern appeared in the United States, where 55.6% viewed unification as necessary but only 27.2% believed it was achievable. In Japan, just 29.3% said unification was necessary, and only 13.4% viewed it as possible.

The institute said the results show a consistent divide between recognition of unification’s importance and skepticism about its prospects. It noted that Germany, as a country that has already experienced national reunification, showed a higher perception of necessity than other surveyed nations.

Regarding Japan’s particularly low assessment of the need for Korean unification, the institute said the view appears to stem from a belief that unification would not benefit Japan. It added that, because support from neighboring countries is essential, Seoul should strengthen public diplomacy efforts aimed at improving Japanese perceptions.

On perceptions of North Korea’s nuclear program, Japanese respondents expressed the highest level of concern. A total of 81.5% of Japanese respondents said North Korea’s nuclear weapons pose a serious threat to peace, followed by Americans at 72.9% and Mongolians at 66.5%.

The institute said countries directly affected by North Korea’s nuclear issue – including Japan, the United States and Mongolia – tend to show heightened threat awareness.

Asked about Pyongyang’s motives for developing nuclear weapons, respondents most commonly viewed them as intended for offensive purposes. That perception was strongest in Japan at 71.8%, followed by the United States at 70.9% and Sweden at 70.2%. Excluding Mongolia, only about 20% to 30% of respondents in most countries viewed North Korea’s nuclear program as primarily defensive.

On preferred approaches to denuclearization, 74.6% across all eight countries favored diplomatic negotiations. Support for economic measures such as sanctions stood at 67.7%, while 48.2% supported military options.

The survey also examined national images of the two Koreas. South Korea was generally viewed as a country associated with trust and cooperation, while North Korea was widely perceived as a source of threat and distrust. Japan, however, showed low levels of trust toward both Koreas.

The annual survey was conducted online from Aug. 11 to 18 in Germany, Mongolia, the United States, Sweden, Italy, Japan, Canada and Poland.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

‘Main reason for optimism’ is a belief that war in Ukraine will end in 2026 with Moscow’s ‘objectives’ achieved,’ pollster says.

A majority of Russians expect the war in Ukraine to end in 2026, a state-owned research centre said, as Russian forces make advances on the battlefield and efforts intensify to reach a ceasefire deal between Kyiv and Moscow.

VTsIOM, Russia’s leading public opinion research centre, said on Wednesday that its annual survey of sentiment around the outgoing year and expectations for the coming year found Russians are viewing 2026 with “growing optimism”.

“Expectations for next year traditionally look much more optimistic … In other words, while the negative perception of the current situation persists, Russians have become more likely to accept (or believe, hope?) future improvements this year, but they still do so with caution,” the organisation said in a review of its survey findings released online.

In a year-end presentation, VTsIOM deputy head Mikhail Mamonov said 70 percent of 1,600 people surveyed ​viewed 2026 as being a more “successful” year for Russia than this year, with 55 percent of respondents linking hope for a better year ‍to a possible end to what Russia officially calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“The main reason for optimism is the possible completion of the special military operation and the achievement of the stated objectives, in line with the national interests outlined by the president,” Mamonov ‍said at the ⁠presentation.

Mamonov pointed to the Russian military’s ongoing offensive in Ukraine, Washington’s reluctance to finance the Ukraine war and the European Union’s inability to fully replace the ‌United States’ role in Ukraine – financially and militarily – as key factors behind the prospects for an eventual deal to end the fighting.

At the conclusion of the conflict, reintegration of Russian military veterans into society and the reconstruction of Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine, as well as Russian border areas, will be the main priorities, Mamonov added.

While the actual level of Russian public fatigue with the war is difficult to measure due to strict state controls on the media, expressions of public dissent as well as the prosecution of those who criticise Moscow’s war on its neighbour, approximately two-thirds of Russians support peace talks, according to independent pollster Levada, the highest number since the start of the war in 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in comments released on Wednesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Moscow reciprocated by also pulling back its forces and allowed the area to become a demilitarised zone monitored by international forces.

In comments to reporters about an overarching 20-point plan that negotiators from Ukraine and the US had hammered out in Florida in recent days, Zelenskyy also said that a similar arrangement could be possible for the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian control.

Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized in Ukraine and has long insisted that Kyiv must give up the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas industrial area before any discussions on the cessation of fighting.

Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70 percent of Donetsk – the two regions that make up the Donbas.

Zelenskyy also said that figuring out the future control of the Donbas as part of the plan was “the most difficult point”, and creating a demilitarised economic zone in the region would require difficult discussions on how far troops would be required to move back and where international forces would be stationed.

Such discussions should be held at the leaders’ level, he said.