By Kim Eun-young and Lee Hana

Despite growing antagonism between Korea and Japan, a group of Japanese social media users have started a pro-Korea movement featuring the hashtag "I love Korea" (好きです韓国) to express support for their neighbor regardless of diplomatic friction.

The first person to upload the hashtag was a Japanese school teacher who studies the Korean language. On July 30, he wrote, "Let's show the world that there are Japanese who love Korea, too" accompanied by the hashtag.

Upon reading this tweet, other Japanese social media users expressed regret over the recent bilateral feud and began uploading stories and pictures of their positive experiences with Korea.

A Japanese user with the Twitter handle vw2c5KOAIS9EjpY uploaded a photo showing how Korea supported Japan during the latter's massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011, saying, "We mustn't forget that many Koreans offered their support to Japan during a difficult time," adding, "Korea, with its friendly people, is a great country."

An Instagram user with the handle choooooco0516 wrote, "I don't want relations between Korea and Japan to worsen for political reasons. Let's hold hands and rebuild our relations."

While some have criticized the "I love Korea" hashtag, most Koreans have responded favorably to these posts.

Instagram user lemini wrote, "Korea's boycott of Japanese goods is our way of expressing dissatisfaction with the Japanese government. We don't hate the Japanese. Let's fight through this together."

"Just as there was a 'No Abe' protest in Tokyo, there are Japanese nationals on guard against their incumbent administration," said Nam Ki-jeong, a professor at Seoul National University's Institute for Japanese Studies. "We can hear these Japanese voices, and the integrity of ordinary civilians, in the latest hashtag movement."

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo on Aug. 1 wrote on Facebook, "While Korea-Japan relations have been suffering due to economic sanctions imposed by the Japanese government, we should keep in mind that cultural exchanges are more important than ever in such times. We hope to keep up bilateral cultural exchanges."

eykim86@korea.kr