The South Korea-Japan Relationship and Domestic Politics in South Korea: How the Relationship Influences Presidential Approval

It has often been argued that South Korean leaders tend to exploit their country's tensions with Japan as a means of boosting their domestic support. However, the actual influence of the South Korea-Japan relationship on domestic government support in the nation has rarely been examined quantitatively. This study provides a systematic quantitative analysis of this issue, by investigating the influence on presidential approval ratings in South Korea of developments in the country's relationship with Japan—in particular, its involvement in conflicts with Japan and the adoption of Japan-friendly policies by its government. The research finds that significant positive effects of the former and meaningful adverse impacts of the latter are both confined to occurrence in small segments of voters only, and further that the scales of these impacts are all quite marginal. These findings suggest that the actual influence of the South Korea-Japan relationship on South Korean domestic politics may be more limited than is conventionally perceived.