Actress Choi Ji-woo is the most popular Korean entertainer in Japan, while rock group X-Japan is Korea’s favorite Japanese star, it was revealed Tuesday.
In a cross-cultural survey conducted by Gallup Korea and Japan Research Center, Choi Ji-woo topped the list with 13.8 percent, and teenage singer BoA and actress Yoon Son-ha followed with 9.7 and 8.1 percent.

Surprisingly, actor Bae Yong-jun, who gave “Yonsama fever” its name, was fourth with 7.5 percent. Bae’s relatively low ranking is due to the fact that his fan base is limited to women in their 50s and 60s.

However, Bae’s influence was clearly reflected in the next part of the questionnaire, where 19.7 percent of Japanese respondents said they now have positive image of Korea because of Yonsama fever, and 19.1 percent answered they now view Korean people in a positive way.

Hirosue Ryoko, Amuro Namie and Utada Hikaru came next as Korea’s favorite Japanese entertainers. But Koreans seemed relatively uninterested in the Japanese entertainment business, with 94.2 of the respondents saying they favor no particular Japanese stars or do not know much about the topic.

(englishnews@chosun.com )