According to Yonhap News Agency's report on August 26, a survey recently released by the Pew Research Center, a U.S. polling organization, shows that the proportion of South Korean people who have negative views of the United States has exceeded half for the first time.
This survey is part of the Pew Research Center’s “2026 Global Attitudes Survey” project. It was conducted among 1,045 adults in South Korea from March 3 to April 4 this year. The results show that 55% of respondents had a “negative view” of the United States, which is a significant increase compared to last year’s figure of 39%.
It is reported that this marks the first time in over twenty years that the Pew Research Center has seen negative opinions account for more than half of South Koreans’ attitudes toward the United States. Notably, the proportion of respondents who rated their opinions as “very negative” doubled from 9% last year to 18%.
In terms of trust, 57% of respondents believe that “the United States is a trustworthy partner,” which is a 26 percentage point decrease compared to the last similar survey conducted during the Biden administration in 2022 (83%). Regarding the tariff policies implemented by the Trump administration, 85% of South Koreans have negative opinions, with 63% stating “strong opposition.”
However, the sense of identity among Korean citizens towards the South Korea-US alliance remains strong. 84% of respondents believe that “the United States is South Korea’s most important ally”. Although this proportion has decreased by 5 percentage points compared to last year, it still remains at a high level.
