Signal Koreans made up two-thirds of Korea-Japan mutual visitors in 2024

Summary

Through culture, travel and social media, the psychological distance between young Koreans and Japanese has become closer than ever. Yet exchanges between the two countries' young generations are asymmetric. Of all mutual visitors between Korea and Japan in 2024, two-thirds were Korean. Korean visits to Japan also overwhelmingly outnumber the reverse flow among international students, scholarship recipients and participants in youth exchange programs. The report presents these figures as evidence of an imbalance in youth exchange. Despite the closer psychological distance, actual people-to-people flows depend heavily on Koreans traveling to Japan.