President Lee's Approval Rating Drops to 38.9%, Falling into 30% Range for First Time Since Taking Office

▲ President Lee Jae-myung

Poll results released today (31st) showed that President Lee Jae-myung's state approval rating has dropped into the 30% range for the first time since taking office.

According to a survey conducted by Realmeter commissioned by Energy Economy News on 2,509 adults aged 18 and older nationwide from the 24th to the 28th, positive evaluations of President Lee's state administration stood at 38.9%, down 1.3 percentage points from the previous week.

Negative evaluations rose 1.8 percentage points from the previous week to 58.7%, outpacing positive evaluations outside the margin of error (±2.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level) for the fifth consecutive week.

Respondents who answered "don't know" accounted for 2.5%.

Realmeter analyzed, "The downward trend in approval ratings continues due to a combination of factors, including worsened public sentiment over real estate, unconstitutionality controversies surrounding the refusal to appoint a Supreme Court justice nominee, police distrust sparked by the Jeju missing persons case, and internal friction within the ruling camp over remarks by You Si-min (former minister)."

In a party support rate survey conducted on 1,006 adults aged 18 and older nationwide from the 27th to the 28th, the Democratic Party of Korea recorded 43.1% and the People Power Party 37.7%.

The Democratic Party rose 1.2 percentage points and the People Power Party edged up 0.1 percentage points from the previous survey.

Realmeter assessed, "The Democratic Party saw its approval rating rise as supporters rallied, particularly centering around the Honam region, those in their 30s, and progressives, following Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok taking office, establishing a grand integration promotion committee to unite the party, and emphasizing reform and livelihood messages."

Regarding the People Power Party, it interpreted, "While the party emphasized unity on the occasion of People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok's first anniversary in office and solidified solidarity through former President Park Geun-hye's attendance at a party workshop, its approval rating remained stagnant and failed to rise as internal conflicts surrounding the suspension of direct elections for local party chapters continued."

The Rebuilding Korea Party stood at 4.4% and the Reform Party at 2.6%, followed by the Progressive Party at 1.4%.

Other parties accounted for 1.7% and independents or undecided voters stood at 9%.

Both surveys were conducted using wireless automated response methods.

The presidential job performance approval survey had a sampling error of ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level with a response rate of 3.9%.

The party support survey had a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level with a response rate of 3.7%.

(For further details, refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission)

(File Photo: Yonhap News)

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