UAE tops rankings for favourable view of Korea

January 20, 2026 / 2:10 PM

Sharjah24- WAM: A government survey released on Tuesday showed that eight in 10 foreigners hold a positive view of the Republic of Korea, with the United Arab Emirates and Egypt recording the highest favourability ratings, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Positive perception reaches record high

The Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that 82.3 percent of respondents viewed Korea positively, an increase of 3.3 percentage points compared to the previous year. This marks the highest level recorded since the survey was launched in 2018.

UAE tops country rankings

By country, the UAE registered the highest positive sentiment at 94.8 percent, followed by Egypt (94 percent), the Philippines (91.4 percent), Türkiye (90.2 percent), India (89 percent) and South Africa (88.8 percent).

Notable improvements in Britain and Thailand

Perceptions of Korea improved significantly in Britain and Thailand, rising by 9.2 and 9.4 percentage points to 87.4 percent and 86.2 percent, respectively.

Cultural influence drives positive image

Among the factors shaping positive perceptions, ‘cultural content’ ranked first at 45.2 percent, followed by ‘lifestyle and culture’ at 31.9 percent, ‘Korean products and brands’ at 28.7 percent, and ‘economic level’ at 21.2 percent.

Media platforms shaping awareness

The survey found that video platforms were the most common source of exposure to Korea at 64.4 percent, followed by social networks (56.6 percent), websites (46.7 percent) and broadcast media (32.8 percent).

Survey methodology

The survey was conducted between 1 and 31 October 2025 among 13,000 people aged 16 and above across 26 countries, including Korea. Korean respondents were excluded from the results to measure favourability towards Korea among foreigners.