Seventy-four percent of Japanese respondents in a recent opinion survey jointly conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun and The Hankook Ilbo said they do not trust South Korea, the highest level observed in 14 surveys since the question was first asked in 1996.
The figure tops the 73 percent recorded in 2014 and 2015 and increased from 60 percent in last year's joint survey.
The latest survey was conducted via phone between May 24 and 26.
In South Korea, meanwhile, 75 percent said they do not trust Japan, down from 79 percent last year.
Asked how they evaluate Japan-South Korea relations, 83 percent of Japanese respondents said they were bad, up from 63 percent last year, marking the third-highest figure behind the 87 percent observed in 2014 and 85 percent in 2015. Thirteen percent said relations were good, down from 33 percent last year.
Among South Koreans, 82 percent said relations were bad, up 13 percentage points from last year, while the share of those who said relations were good fell from 26 percent to 15 percent.
Issues involving so-called comfort women and former requisitioned workers are likely to have caused the rapid deterioration in public perceptions of the bilateral relationship.
When asked about Seoul's decision to dissolve a financial support foundation for so-called comfort women based on the 2015 bilateral accord, 74 percent of Japanese respondents said the move was unconvincing. Fifty-six percent of South Korean respondents were also not convinced.
However, 87 percent of South Korean respondents believe Japan needs to further apologize over the issue, a sharp difference from the 80 percent of Japanese respondents who believe additional apologies are unnecessary.
Regarding the issue of former requisitioned workers, Tokyo claims the issue was resolved by the 1965 Japan-South Korea agreement on economic cooperation and the settlement of problems concerning property and claims. Nevertheless, South Korea's Supreme Court has ordered Japanese corporations to pay compensation, leading Japan to claim the ruling violates international law.
Seventy-eight percent of Japanese respondents agree such claims are reasonable, while 79 percent of South Korean respondents say they are unreasonable.
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