South Koreans' Unfavorable Views of US Exceed 50% for First Time: Pew Research

Unfavorable opinions of the United States among South Koreans have exceeded 50%.

This marks the first time since the U.S. pollster Pew Research began surveying South Koreans' perceptions of the U.S. over the past 20 years.

However, the perception of the U.S. as South Korea's most important ally remains strong, indicating that negative assessments of the U.S. have not led to a weakening of perceptions regarding the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

According to the poll results released by Pew Research on the 24th local time, 55% of respondents answered that they view the U.S. "unfavorably."

This is a 16 percentage point increase from 39% last year.

On the other hand, the proportion of respondents who answered that they view the U.S. "favorably" stood at 45%, down 16 percentage points from last year.

In particular, the percentage of those who answered "very unfavorable" increased from 9% last year to 18% this year.

This is the first time that negative views of the U.S. among South Koreans have surpassed the 50% mark.

In the past, the only time unfavorable views of the U.S. outweighed favorable ones was in 2003, when unfavorable views stood at 50% and favorable views at 46%.

That period saw the spread of anti-American sentiment sparked by the deaths of two middle school girls who were hit by a U.S. military armored vehicle during a training exercise.

Trust in the United States also appeared to have declined significantly.

Fifty-seven percent of South Koreans answered that the U.S. is a "reliable partner."

This is 26 percentage points lower than the 83% response rate recorded when the same question was last asked in 2022 during the Joe Biden administration.

Additionally, 47% of South Koreans answered that the U.S. contributes "a lot" or "fairly" to world peace and stability, down 27 percentage points from 74% in 2023.

Eighty-five percent of South Koreans also expressed negative views regarding President Trump's tariff policies.

Among them, 63% answered that they oppose them "strongly."

Fourteen percent expressed support for President Trump's tariff policies.

Regarding President Trump's handling of Iran, 73% of South Koreans also expressed dissatisfaction.

Nonetheless, perceptions of the South Korea-U.S. alliance remained robust.

Eighty-four percent of South Koreans named the U.S. as South Korea's most important ally.

Although down 5 percentage points from last year, it remains a high level.

In last year's survey of 24 countries, South Korea recorded the second-highest proportion after Israel in naming the U.S. as its most important ally.

This survey is part of the "2026 Global Attitudes Survey" currently being conducted by Pew Research.

The survey in South Korea was conducted from March 3 to April 4 among 1,045 adults.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.