COVER STORY Trump's America is losing Koreans

Koreans are increasingly viewing the U.S. unfavorably, with less trust as a partner than before, according to a recent survey released by Washington-headquartered Pew Research Center.

Experts and Korean citizens say the unfavorable sentiment was driven largely by the Donald Trump administration’s unilateral policies that often put more importance on transactions rather than alliances with trade and security partners.

The survey showed 55 percent of Koreans expressed unfavorable views of the U.S. during the survey period from March 3 to April 4, including 18 percent who held very unfavorable views. It was 16 percentage points up from the 2025 figure.

At the same time, 45 percent said they held favorable opinions of the U.S., down 16 percentage points, according to the survey of 1,045 Korean adults.

Favorability reached its peak at 89 percent in 2022 under the Joe Biden administration.

This was the first time unfavorable views took the majority since 2002. It is also the second time that unfavorable views surpassed favorable views following 2003, when unfavorability stood at 50 percent compared to favorability at 46 percent. The 2003 survey was conducted when anti-U.S. sentiment was very high after two Korean middle school students were crushed to death by a U.S. armored vehicle in 2002.

As to the question whether the U.S. is a reliable partner, 57 percent of the respondents said yes, which was far lower than 83 percent in 2022 during the Biden government.

In addition, 85 percent of the surveyed Koreans were negative about the Trump administration's tariff policies, including 63 percent who strongly disapproved of them.

Experts point out that the survey outcome shows many Koreans find it hard to trust the U.S. as the Trump administration has shown inconsistency in foreign and trade policies and made announcements without proper prior consultation with its partners. The U.S. has been pushing ahead with a 15 percent tariff on Korea, which was lowered from an initial levy of 25 percent in exchange for a $350 billion investment pledge. The U.S. has also been urging Korea to increase its defense cost sharing, and recently scaled down Seoul-Washington joint military drills as Trump seeks to resume summit diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The Pew survey was conducted before the military exercise issue emerged.

Still, the deterioration in perceptions of the U.S. does not necessarily translate into weakening support for the alliance. Despite the decline in favorability and trust, 84 percent of Koreans identified the U.S. as South Korea’s most important ally, down only slightly from 89 percent last year.

Andrew Yeo, a senior fellow and the SK-Korea Foundation Chair at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Asia Policy Studies, said the contrasting figures point more to an erosion of confidence in Washington’s reliability than a fundamental shift in attitudes toward the alliance.

“The sharp decline is driven by a steady drip of issues ranging from tariffs to scaled-back joint military exercises that reflect President Trump’s more transactional approach toward allies,” Yeo said. “Those actions have reinforced perceptions that Washington does not adequately consider South Korean interests.”

Yet the continued strength of support for the alliance suggests “the greater risk is erosion of trust in U.S. reliability rather than weakening support for the alliance itself,” he added.

Ahn Byong-jin, a professor at the Global Academy for Future Civilizations at Kyung Hee University, offered a more pessimistic outlook, arguing that negative sentiment is likely to persist as Washington increases economic and security pressure on Seoul.

"In Trump's second term, the U.S. is taking straightforward moves for economic coercion, almost extorting its allies," Ahn said.

Pointing out that many countries around the world now even view China more favorably than the U.S., Ahn expected this trend to persist throughout Trump's term.

“This downward trend is likely to persist through the end of 2030. Currently, Washington has little incentive to show goodwill toward Seoul, as pressure will only intensify — ranging from tariffs and regulatory disputes surrounding Coupang to demands for Korea to pay a larger share of the costs for the stationing of U.S. Forces Korea, investment commitments and issues like religious freedom. Consequently, unfavorable sentiment toward the U.S. will almost certainly continue,” Ahn said.

Kim Dong-suk, executive committee chair of the Korean American Grassroots Conference, said the shift in South Korea reflects a broader deterioration in perceptions of Washington around the world.

"Which country actually favors the U.S. these days? When you look at trade and foreign relations, Washington puts everyone else at a disadvantage. It’s only natural that international opinion has turned negative," Kim said.

Some Koreans also attributed their increasingly negative perceptions to changes in American society, including what they see as a retreat from diversity and inclusion and increasingly restrictive immigration policies.

“A country built sequentially on the labor of immigrants, for example, Black people, Asians and Hispanics, is now pushing aggressive anti-immigration laws," said Lee, a 32-year-old office worker in Seoul, adding she has watched her U.S.-educated friends return to Korea over the past few years after failing to secure work visas there.

"Pushing hardline anti-immigration policies to shield an underperforming domestic populace looks like little more than a rebranded form of racism,” she said.

Others, however, distinguished their dissatisfaction with Trump from their comprehensive views of the United States.

"I don’t buy into the growing anti-U.S. sentiment — I still view the U.S. favorably," Jeon, a 39-year-old office worker, said. "While many have turned against the U.S. due to President Trump's policies, I don’t see that as a compelling reason to dismiss the country as a whole."