KUALA LUMPUR - More than eight in 10 foreigners now hold a favourable impression of South Korea, the highest level since the survey began in 2018, reflecting the continued global influence of Korean cultural content.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s 2025 Republic of Korea National Image survey released on Jan 20, foreign favourability towards South Korea stood at 82.3 per cent, up 3.3 percentage points from the previous year.

The figure marks a steady recovery from earlier fluctuations, rising from 79.0 per cent in 2024 and surpassing the previous high of 80.5 per cent recorded in 2021.

By country, the United Arab Emirates recorded the highest favourability at 94.8 per cent, followed by Egypt at 94.0 per cent, the Philippines at 91.4 per cent, Turkey at 90.2 per cent, India at 89.0 per cent and South Africa at 88.8 per cent.

Notable gains were seen in the United Kingdom and Thailand, where favourability rose by 9.2 percentage points to 87.4 per cent and 9.4 percentage points to 86.2 per cent respectively.

The UK was the only European country to exceed the global average, the ministry said.

Perceptions of South Korea also improved in China and Japan, which have traditionally shown lower favourability.

China’s favourability rose by 3.6 percentage points to 62.8 per cent, while Japan’s increased by 5.4 percentage points to 42.2 per cent, more than double its 20.0 per cent level in 2018.

Cultural content emerged as the strongest driver of positive perceptions, with 45.2 per cent of respondents citing it as a key reason for their favourable view of South Korea.

The impact was particularly pronounced in Asian countries, including the Philippines at 69.3 per cent, Japan at 64.4 per cent, Indonesia at 59.5 per cent and Vietnam at 58.4 per cent.

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The ministry said K-pop, television dramas and films have expanded South Korea’s cultural reach while enhancing its national image.

Other contributing factors included modern lifestyle culture at 31.9 per cent, products and brands at 28.7 per cent, and economic development at 21.2 per cent.

In the Middle East and Africa, where overall favourability was high, economic factors were found to play a significant role alongside cultural influence.

Video platforms were the most common source of information about South Korea, cited by 64.4 per cent of respondents, followed by social media at 56.6 per cent, internet sites at 46.7 per cent and broadcasting at 32.8 per cent.

Among video platforms, YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime were the most widely used, while Instagram, TikTok and Facebook dominated social media channels.

“Through this survey, we could feel the high favourability toward South Korea among people worldwide and the influence of K-culture and K-content,” said Gong Hyeong-sik, director of the ministry’s Public Communication Office.

He added that the ministry would conduct further analysis of the findings through expert discussions and support their application across various sectors.