By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
People in Korea, China and Japan have negative feelings towards each other, and such recognition was stronger among the youth, according to a survey.
Koreans showed the most negative sentiment toward the two Asian nations.
The Northeast Asian History Foundation Thursday announced research conducted on 1,500 citizens in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo, 500 each, in October. It is the foundation's second survey following last year.
According to the report, people of the three nations recognized one another more negatively than before.
About 59.8 percent of Koreans said the Korea-China relationship was not good, up from 34.5 percent last year.
Some 16 percent of Chinese thought the relationship between the two nations not good, also up from 6.6 percent last year.
``Koreans' negative sentiment toward China seems to have risen because of substandard food made there, referring to melamine contamination, and emotional disputes around the Beijing Olympic Games, such as Chinese students' protest during the torch relay in Seoul,'' a researcher of the foundation said.
Korean media reports of anti-Korean sentiment in China also fanned negative recognition, he added.
Koreans' anti-Japan sentiment also got stronger, among 76.8 of those surveyed, up from 67.7 percent last year. Japanese' negative sentiment toward Korea also rose to 45.6 percent from 2007's 34.4 percent.
Between China and Japan, Chinese saw Japan more positively, while Japan developed more negative views of China.
``Koreans showed strong negative sentiment toward the two nations. It may be a reaction to damage caused by the two countries throughout history, but it shows that Koreans tend to be emotional over diplomatic issues with the countries,'' he said.
The negative sentiment was stronger among youngsters of all the three nations, with more than 66 percent of Koreans in their 20s and 30s, and about 53 percent of those in their 40s and 50s ― an indication that relations between the countries will become worse.
``We think it is because of nationalistic tendencies of young bloggers amid online debates over issues involving their countries. We need further study of the reasons,'' he said.