Nearly 80 percent of South Koreans have a negative impression of Japan, while about 40 percent of Japanese have an unfavorable image of South Korea, according to the results of a bilateral poll released Tuesday.
The first joint survey conducted by Japanese think tank Genron NPO and South Korean think tank East Asia Institute found that the major reasons behind the negative feelings are the territorial dispute over a couple of rocky islets, called Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, and differences in historical perceptions.
"To sum up the results, as of today in 2013, the relationship between Japan and South Korea is bad," Wonchil Chung, a senior research fellow at the South Korean think tank, said at a news conference in Tokyo. "(Our) concern is that there were many negative opinions over the future of the bilateral relationship."