Japan vs South Korea
Japan
South Korea
| Metric | Japan | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
| Capital | Tokyo | Seoul |
| Population | 123,103,479 | 51,667,029 |
| Area (km²) | 377,975 | 100,363 |
| Population density (/km²) | 326 | 515 |
| GDP per capita (USD) | $36,000 | $36,200 |
| Region | Eastern Asia | Eastern Asia |
| Currency | JPY | KRW |
| Languages | Japanese | Korean |
| Main religions | Shinto, Buddhism | Buddhism, Christianity |
| Time zone | UTC+9 | UTC+9 |
Green highlights the higher value (or higher GDP per capita). Figures are approximate.
At a glance
Japan and South Korea are both located in Asia (both in Eastern Asia). Japan has the larger population — about 2.4× the population of South Korea, while Japan covers more land area.
For full geographic detail, see the Japan map and the South Korea map.
Close neighbours
Japan and South Korea are separated by the Korea Strait, only around 200 km wide between Busan and the Japanese island of Kyushu; the island of Tsushima sits in the middle. Seoul to Tokyo is one of Asia's busiest air routes, and ferries link Busan with Fukuoka and Shimonoseki. Japan is almost four times larger in area and has more than twice South Korea's population, but both are mountainous, highly urbanised and among the world's fastest-ageing societies, with very low birth rates.
A difficult 20th century
Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and ruled it as a colony until 1945. Forced labour, the wartime "comfort women" system and efforts to suppress Korean language and names left deep grievances that still surface in court cases and diplomatic disputes. The two countries normalised relations in 1965 with a treaty that included Japanese economic aid. The islets known in Korea as Dokdo and in Japan as Takeshima are administered by South Korea and claimed by Japan. Despite these tensions, both are democracies and US treaty allies, and they cooperate on security and trade.
Similar economies, distinct cultures
Japan industrialised first; South Korea's rapid growth from the 1960s followed a partly similar export-led path, and today the two compete in cars, steel, shipbuilding, electronics and semiconductors. Their income levels per person are now roughly comparable. Japanese and Korean have similar grammar and both contain many words of Chinese origin, but they are not mutually intelligible and use different scripts: Korean is written in Hangul, Japanese in kanji plus kana. Popular culture flows both ways, from anime and manga to K-pop and Korean dramas, and tourism between the two countries is heavy in both directions.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute?
- It concerns a small group of islets in the sea between Korea and Japan. South Korea administers them and calls them Dokdo; Japan claims them as Takeshima.
- Are Japanese and Korean similar languages?
- They have similar grammar and share many words borrowed from Chinese, but they are not mutually intelligible and use different writing systems.