[Friendliness of neighboring country leaders - first half of 2025] President Trump's favorability rating is 24.7 degrees, half that of former President Biden

According to Korea Research's regular survey 'Public opinion within public opinion', Regularly surveying Korean people’s favorability toward five countries (Russia, North Korea, the United States, Japan, and China)It is being announced. Last survey conducted in October 2025 Looking at the results, the favorability rating for the United States remains the highest among the five surrounding countries at 50.0 degrees, but it has dropped 5 degrees compared to January, marking the lowest since October 1. The favorability rating for North Korea has once again hit an all-time low of 9.0 degrees, and the favorability ratings for China and Russia are also at low levels.

We asked about the favorability ratings of Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un, U.S. President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and Chinese President Xi Jinping using the same emotional temperature scale (0 to 100 degrees, where 0 indicates colder and more negative feelings and 100 indicates hotter and more positive feelings) that asks about national favorability.

According to the survey results, the favorability ratings of all five leaders remain low. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (5 degrees) and U.S. President Donald Trump (24.8 degrees) are similar, while Chinese President Xi Jinping (24.7 degrees), Russian President Vladimir Putin (19.0 degrees), and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un (15.0 degrees) show very low favorability ratings. In particular, Chairman Kim Jong Un’s favorability rating is at an all-time low, and has continued to drop from 13.8 degrees in the second half of 2023 to 16.7 degrees → 15.2 degrees → 14.4 degrees.

President Donald Trump, who was included in this survey for the first time since his inauguration in January, has a favorability rating of 1 degrees, which is nearly 24.7 degrees lower than his predecessor, President Joe Biden (43.4 degrees). Even during Trump’s first term, the favorability rating for President Trump in Korea was not good.  A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center from June to August 2020 targeting 6 people in 8 countries around the worldIn the past, only 17% of Koreans had a favorable view of President Trump. A survey conducted by Korea Research just before the US presidential electionIn the survey, 64% of people pointed to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris as the candidate who would be more helpful to our national interests, while only 7% pointed to candidate Trump. It is also presumed that the fact that he has been imposing tariffs on many countries around the world, including allies, and engaged in trade disputes since his inauguration has also lowered his favorability rating. However, since this is the first favorability rating survey since his inauguration, we need to watch for changes in the future.

President Trump's favorability ratings vary greatly by ideological orientation. While the favorability rating for President Trump is 35.3 degrees among conservatives, it is only half that among progressives, at 17.4 degrees. Prime Minister Ishiba's favorability rating is also higher among conservatives (20.3 degrees) than among progressives (31.8 degrees). This is Survey conducted in the second half of 2024is the same as

The favorability ratings of President Xi Jinping, President Putin, and Chairman Kim Jong-un are particularly low among those in their 2s and 30s, and especially among those aged 18-29, the favorability ratings for all three leaders are in the single digits (President Xi Jinping 8.2 degrees, President Putin 9.1 degrees, and Chairman Kim Jong-un 6.9 degrees). Even among those in their 30s, President Putin’s favorability rating barely reaches double digits at 11.0 degrees, while the favorability ratings for President Xi Jinping (9.8 degrees) and Chairman Kim Jong-un (9.0 degrees) remain in the single digits.

Results of a favorability survey in five countries conducted in early AprilCompared to the other five countries, the favorability rating for the leaders is lower than the favorability rating for the country. The favorability rating for the United States is 5 degrees, while President Trump’s favorability rating is only 50.0 degrees, half of the favorability rating for the country. Prime Minister Ishiba’s favorability rating (24.7 degrees) is also about 24.8 degrees lower than Japan’s favorability rating (39.7 degrees). The favorability ratings for China, North Korea, and Russia are all low, but the favorability ratings for their respective leaders are even lower.

As a result of President Trump’s favorability rating being nearly 20 degrees lower than President Biden’s, the gap between the U.S. national favorability rating and the president’s favorability rating has widened significantly to 25.3 degrees. The gap between the U.S. national favorability rating and President Biden’s favorability rating in the second half of last year was 13.7 degrees, which is nearly double the gap. The gap between Japan’s national favorability rating and Prime Minister Ishiba’s favorability rating also widened slightly from 11.3 degrees in the second half of last year to 14.9 degrees in the first half of this year.