The Korean and U.S. flags hang side by side on Korea’s presidential aircraft after it arrives at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii, on July 8, 2024, for the NATO summit marking the alliance’s 75th anniversary. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-sukA poll by a U.S. research institute found that 55 percent of Koreans have an unfavorable opinion of the United States, marking the first time in two decades that more than half of respondents have expressed a negative view of the country.The figure was even higher than that recorded following the 2002 deaths of middle school students Shin Hyo-sun and Shim Mi-seon, who were struck and killed by a U.S. military armored vehicle. Nevertheless, Koreans still widely regarded the United States as their country’s most important ally.Favorable opinion falls by 16 percentage pointsAccording to the Spring 2026 Global Attitudes Survey released by the Pew Research Center on Monday, 55 percent of South Koreans said they had an unfavorable opinion of the United States, up 16 percentage points from 39 percent last year. In particular, the proportion of respondents with a “very unfavorable” opinion doubled from 9 percent last year to 18 percent this year.By contrast, 45 percent viewed the United States favorably, down 16 percentage points from a year earlier. The survey was conducted among 1,045 Korean adults from March 3 to April 4.This was the first time negative views of the United States among Koreans had exceeded 50 percent since the survey began in 2002. Even in 2003, when anti-American sentiment surged following the deaths of middle school students Shin Hyo-sun and Shim Mi-seon after they were killed by a U.S. military armored vehicle during a training exercise, the unfavorable rating stood at 50 percent. That was the only previous instance in which unfavorable views outnumbered favorable ones, which then stood at 46 percent.President Lee Jae Myung shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of a working dinner for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders at the Hilton Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province on Oct. 29, 2025. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-suk84 percent Koreans still consider the US to be the most important ally Trust in the U.S. also fell significantly. The percentage of Koreans said they considered the U.S. a “reliable partner” fell to 57 percent. The figure was down 26 points from 2022, during the Biden administration, when the question was last asked and 83 percent of Koreans considered the U.S. reliable.The percent of Koreans who said the U.S. contributes a great deal or a fair amount to peace and stability around the world sank to 47 percent, down 27 points from 74 percent in 2023.In particular, 85 percent viewed U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies negatively, including 63 percent who strongly disapproved. Another 73 percent disapproved of Trump’s handling of the U.S.-Iran war. The findings suggest that the Trump administration’s foreign policies have contributed to rising anti-American sentiment among Koreans.At the same time, however, Koreans continued to place considerable importance on the alliance between the two countries. Eighty-four percent named the U.S. as Korea’s most important ally. In a Pew Research Center survey of 24 countries last year, Korea had the second-highest share of respondents who named the U.S. as their country’s most important ally, behind only Israel.This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.