Some 71.6% of South Koreans see Japan unfavorably, up 21.7 percentage points from the previous year, as diplomatic relations between the Asian neighbors remain precarious due to wartime labor issues, a survey showed Thursday.

The proportion of South Koreans who have good feelings about Japan fell by 19.4 points to 12.3%, near the record-low of 12.2% seen in 2013, according to the poll conducted in September and October by Tokyo-based nonprofit think tank Genron NPO and the Seoul-based East Asia Institute.

The annual survey, which started in 2013, reflects sharply deteriorating sentiment among South Koreans toward Japan. Those who see bilateral relations as extremely poor or poor soared 22.3 points from the previous year to a record-high of 88.4%, it said.