Celebrating 30 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and Vietnam, the event "Vietnam Lantern Night" is held from Dec. 2-3, 2022, in Busan's Haeundae-gu District. (Official Facebook page of Korea Foundation's ASEAN Cultural Centre) 

By Cao Thi Ha 

Residents of member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have given Korea a likeability score of 81 out of 100. 

A survey on mutual perceptions by Korean and ASEAN nationals released on Feb. 14 by the Korea Foundation's ASEAN Cultural Centre in Seoul said Southeast Asians had a favorable opinion of Korea.

Korea's score was slightly lower than Japan's 85.1 and significantly higher than China's 61.1.

This report included the results of an online survey conducted from Nov. 8-25 on 1,000 Koreans ages 19-69 and 2,400 people, or 300-500 from each nation, in Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. 

Thirty-seven percent of the ASEAN people surveyed said they found Korean food the most attractive, followed by Korean movies and dramas with 36.3%, tourist attractions 33.1%, and beauty and cosmetics 27.1%.

By country, respondents in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines said they found Korean food the most attractive. Those in Vietnam chose beauty and cosmetics and those in Indonesia Korean movies and dramas. 

Yet Korean likeability of ASEAN people seemed far lower with an average score of 61.7. Koreans mainly chose Southeast Asia as a leading tourist destination because of the region's natural scenery, tourist attractions, cultural heritage and lower prices. 

Koreans named Vietnam as the ASEAN state they felt closest to, followed by Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

Among nationals in ASEAN, people in Vietnam said they felt closest to Korea, followed by those in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia in that order.

shinn11@korea.kr