Yes, things have changed. When I first learned both Japanese and Korean, they were considered part of a "Uralo-Altaic" language family that included Finnish and Hungarian as well as some Northeast Asian languages. I'm not aware of any linguist who believes in that East-West link anymore.
And, when I (as a non-Asian) learned both of these languages long ago, the difference from any other languages I had learned was obvious, and so was their resemblance to each other. I was quite surprised and puzzled to learn that linguists had declared them unrelated.
Over the years, more and more linguists have concluded that they are, in fact, related, something that has always been obvious to me (and that has nothing to do with shared Chinese loanwords in both.)
And, when I (as a non-Asian) learned both of these languages long ago, the difference from any other languages I had learned was obvious, and so was their resemblance to each other. I was quite surprised and puzzled to learn that linguists had declared them unrelated.
Over the years, more and more linguists have concluded that they are, in fact, related, something that has always been obvious to me (and that has nothing to do with shared Chinese loanwords in both.)