Anchor: A pollster asked one-thousand South Koreans nationwide how they felt about the leaders of the United States, Japan, China and Russia. While not one of these politicians found favor with even a quarter of the respondents, this report takes a closer look at how the numbers compared.
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report: A survey finds that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has won over more of the South Korean public than her counterparts in the U.S., China or Russia.

Twenty-two percent of respondents to a Gallup Korea poll conducted from Tuesday to Thursday said they liked Takaichi, while 59 percent said they didn’t.

While 21 percent said they liked Chinese President Xi Jinping, 66 percent said otherwise. 

Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump, 19 percent said they found him likable while 71 percent disagreed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was the least popular among the leaders in the survey, with only six percent of respondents expressing a positive view of him and 84 percent taking a negative view. 

Compared with a survey conducted in August of last year, Trump’s popularity in South Korea fell by five percentage points and Xi’s rose by eleven points.

Respondents in their 20s and 30s found Xi less likable than Trump or Takaichi.

The same was true of those who considered themselves politically conservative in South Korea.

Among those who identified themselves as politically progressive, the rate of negative responses was around 88 percent for both Trump and Putin.

Regarding the recent U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, 54 percent of respondents said it was an unacceptable violation of the South American country’s sovereignty, while 34 percent said it was a justifiable action to combat crime and protect America’s national interests.

The random telephone survey of one-thousand adults 18 and older has a margin of error of plus or minus three-point-one percentage points and a 95 percent confidence interval.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.