Japan’s Deep Fear of North Korea – What They’re Really Searching For: Part 1

Which are the two countries that dislike North Korea the most?

Thanks to the influence of Hallyu (Korean Wave), global favorability towards South Korea is on the rise. But what about North Korea? The reality is that the world’s perception of North Korea, plagued by issues like provocations and violation of human rights, is not so positive. In this context, some countries are particularly wary of North Korea. You might think of South Korea, which is geographically close and divided from the North, or the United States, against which North Korea has been issuing condemnatory statements almost every day. However, it turns out that Japan and Australia are also two countries that view North Korea as a threat.

In Japan, the threat perception of North Korea is as high as 80% in 2023, showing that the country is highly wary of North Korea. Similarly, according to a survey conducted by Australia’s Lowy Institute, North Korea was the least favorable of the 21 countries surveyed, based on the favorability of each country. ¹⁾ Interestingly, despite their geographical and cultural differences, these two countries have similar perceptions of North Korea. Therefore, our foreign correspondents living in Japan and Australia will delve deeper into how these countries perceive North Korea through various North Korea-related keywords!

How does Japan view North Korea?

At the current juncture, when diplomatic relations have not been established, how does Japan view North Korea? I, reporter Choi Min Young, looked into it using Japan’s leading portal site, Yahoo Japan. For reference, Yahoo Japan is the Korean equivalent of Naver. So, when you search for North Korea on Yahoo Japan, what are the most searched keywords? Let’s take a look at three notable keywords together.

◇ Keyword 1: Missile

In Japan, the first keyword associated with North Korea is “missile.” Japan is geographically close to the Korean Peninsula, making it a country that must react quickly to the threat of North Korean missiles. As a result, breaking news about North Korean missiles is reported almost daily.

When you search for North Korean missiles on Yahoo Japan, you can see numerous articles about North Korean missiles. You can also easily find informative posts prepared for the event of a North Korean ballistic missile flying towards Japan. To briefly introduce the post’s content explaining the response system, it contains that the information the J-Alert (Japan’s national instant warning system) provides differs based on the potential falling point and likelihood of the North Korean ballistic missile.

To Read Part 2…