A nationwide opinion survey by The Yomiuri Shimbun has found that 64% of respondents approve of continuing the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) between Japan and South Korea, compared to 22% who disapprove.
The telephone survey using random digit dialing was conducted from Friday to Sunday.
South Korea decided to avoid scrapping the GSOMIA, although it had announced it would end the pact.
By party, 65% of respondents who support the ruling parties approved of continuing the pact, as did 71% of those who support opposition parties and 62% of those who support no particular party.
At the same time, many respondents remained cautious about future relations between Japan and South Korea. Only 16% of respondents said they thought the relationship between two countries would improve at a summit meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in scheduled for later this month.
This compared with 74% who said they did not think it would improve.
Even among those who approve of maintaining the GSOMIA, 73% said they didn't think the relationship would improve.
The approval rate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet was 48%, close to the 49% seen in the previous survey conducted from Nov. 15-17. The disapproval rate was 40%, up 4 percentage points from 36% in the previous survey.
Seventy-five percent of respondents said they were not satisfied with the government's explanations about the issue of the prime minister's annual cherry blossom viewing party, while 13% said they were satisfied. Among those who support the ruling parties, about 60% said they were not satisfied.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they had reduced family expenditures since the consumption tax hike in October, up 4 percentage points from a survey conducted that month. Meanwhile, 65% said they had not cut their spending, down 5 percentage points from the same survey.
In the survey, 1,067 voting-age people responded. Among them, 551 responded on fixed-line phones while 516 responded on mobile phones.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
