UAE tops rankings for favourable view of Korea

SEOUL, 20th January, 2026 (WAM) — Eight in 10 foreigners hold a positive view of the Republic of Korea, a government survey showed on Tuesday, with the United Arab Emirates and Egypt recording the highest favourability ratings, respectively, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that 82.3 percent of respondents viewed Korea positively, up 3.3 percentage points from a year earlier. The figure marks the highest since the survey was launched in 2018.

By country, the UAE recorded the most positive sentiment at 94.8 percent, followed by Egypt (94 percent), the Philippines (91.4 percent), Türkiye (90.2 percent), India (89 percent) and South Africa (88.8 percent).

Perceptions improved sharply in Britain and Thailand, which rose 9.2 and 9.4 percentage points to 87.4 percent and 86.2 percent, respectively.

Regarding the factors that positively influenced this perception, ‘cultural content’ ranked first at 45.2 percent, followed by ‘lifestyle and culture’ at 31.9 percent, ‘Korean products and brands’ at 28.7 percent, and ‘economic level’ at 21.2 percent.

The survey found that video platforms were the most common source of exposure to Korea at 64.4 percent, followed by social networks (56.6 percent), websites (46.7 percent) and broadcast media (32.8 percent).

The survey was conducted on 13,000 people aged 16 and older in 26 countries, including Korea, from 1st to 31st October 2025. Korean respondents were excluded from the results to gauge the country’s favorability among foreigners.