President Lee Jae-myung's Approval Rating Falls for 8th Consecutive Week to 37.4% Amid Cabinet Appointment Fallout

[Anchor]

A public opinion poll shows that President Lee Jae-myung's approval rating has fallen for the eighth consecutive week, dropping to 37.4 percent. This marks the lowest figure since taking office. Controversies surrounding the ministerial nominees Yong Hye-in for the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Kim Seung-won for the Ministry of Justice were cited as negative factors, while a temperature difference in how the two nominees are viewed has been detected within the ruling camp.

Reporter Kang Cheongwan has the details.

[Reporter]

According to a survey conducted by pollster Realmeter from August 31 to September 4 of 2,510 adults aged 18 and older nationwide, positive evaluations of President Lee Jae-myung's state affairs stood at 37.4 percent, while negative evaluations were 59.5 percent.

The positive evaluation, or approval rating, fell another 1.5 percentage points from last week when it first dipped into the 30 percent range in Realmeter surveys, declining for eight straight weeks and setting a new record low since taking office.

Realmeter analyzed that "negative public opinion regarding personnel and policy credibility spread as controversies overlapped, including appointment disputes surrounding ministerial nominees such as allegations of preferential treatment and withdrawal of indictments, as well as the controversy over the U-turn on the real estate tax system revision plan."

Regarding the controversies surrounding Ministry of Gender Equality and Family nominee Yong Hye-in and Ministry of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won, the presidential office reaffirmed its stance to wait and see until the National Assembly's confirmation hearings.

A senior presidential official stated, "There is no change in our principled stance of watching the process as the nominees well answer questions from the public and the media."

However, a subtle temperature difference is detected within the ruling camp regarding the level of response toward the two nominees, Yong Hye-in and Kim Seung-won.

A key official from the Democratic Party told SBS that while they "plan to actively respond" to the allegations related to nominee Kim Seung-won, they refrained from commenting on nominee Yong Hye-in, saying "she is from a different party." This suggests they are guarding nominee Kim, who belongs to the ruling party, considering the symbolism of the Justice Minister post and the fallout if he steps down, while continuing to deliberate over nominee Yong, who is a lawmaker from the Basic Income Party.

(Video reporting: Jung Sang-bo | Video editing: Wee Won-yang | Design: Seo Seung-hyun, Yang Gi-tae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.