Japanese Like Chinese Better Than Koreans

Japanese people prefer Chinese to Koreans even though the island country's relations with both neighbors have historically been chilly, a poll suggests.

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Koreans scored 1.9 points out of five but Chinese 2.1 points in a recent poll of 2,400 Japanese people about their views of China, Korea, Russia and the U.S., the Mainichi Shimbun reported Monday.

Koreans saw their score fall 0.2 points and the Chinese score rose by the same amount from a year earlier. Korea was the only country whose score dropped, and the 1.9 points were the lowest score Koreans have earned since the poll was first conducted in 2014.

Americans were the best liked with 3.4 points, followed by Chinese. Koreans and Russians were tied.

Japanese people also think that their country's relations with Korea will get worse 10 years down the line, while those with the other nations will improve.

A similar poll by the Japanese Cabinet office also showed that fewer Japanese like Koreans, plunging from 39.4 percent in 2018 to 26.7 percent in 2019. The percentage who dislike Koreans jumped from 58 percent to 71.5 percent.