TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A total of 51.2 percent of Japanese feel bilateral relations with South Korea are "good" or "rather good," a 5.1 percentage point increase from the previous year, a government poll showed Friday.

The positive response in the poll, conducted from Oct. 17 to Nov. 24, eclipses 50 percent for the first time since the annual survey was switched to mail-in in 2020, and the latest figure is more than triple that from the l6.6 percent seen that year.

A Foreign Ministry official said many Japanese feel that relations with South Korea have recovered since President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in 2022. The survey was conducted before Yoon's abrupt martial law declaration in December that led to his subsequent indictment for insurrection.

"Cultural exchange, including the popularity of K-pop music among the younger generation, is also a contributing factor," the official added.

Respondents who said bilateral ties with China were "not good" or "not so good" totaled 88.1 percent, down 2.0 points from the year before.

Those who felt relations with China were "important" or "rather important" increased to 70.2 percent, up 2.0 points.

Meanwhile, 92.2 percent felt ties with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, were "not good" or "not so good."

The poll also showed that 84.9 percent feel "friendly" or "rather friendly" toward the United States, a 2.5-point decrease from the previous year, possibly due to wariness toward the reelection of Donald Trump as president in November.

In a multiple choice question on what topics regarding North Korea were respondents interested in, 76.8 percent chose the country's missile development, 76.0 percent chose its abduction of Japanese nationals, and 67.5 percent chose nuclear issues.

The survey of 3,000 Japanese nationals aged 18 or older residing in the country received valid responses from 1,734, or 57.8 percent.