President Lee Jae-myung's Approval Rating Hits Record Low at 42%… Negative Ratings Top 50% for First Time [Gallup Korea]

President Lee Jae-myung's state approval rating dropped 3 percentage points from the previous week, marking a record low since taking office.

Negative ratings for President Lee's governance also exceeded the majority mark for the first time.

According to a Gallup Korea poll of 1,001 adults aged 18 and older nationwide conducted from the 25th to the 27th, 42 percent evaluated President Lee's job performance positively.

This is a 3 percentage point drop compared to 45 percent in the third week of August survey released on the 21st.

It is also 2 percentage points lower than the previous record low of 44 percent in the second week of August survey by Gallup Korea.

Responses indicating he is "doing a poor job" reached 50 percent, surpassing half for the first time since taking office.

"Undecided" responses stood at 8 percent.

Among positive evaluations, "diplomacy" was cited the most at 16 percent.

This was followed by "economy and livelihood" at 11 percent, "communication" at 10 percent, and "overall good performance" and "real estate policy" at 7 percent each.

The top reason for negative evaluations was "real estate policy" at 27 percent.

"Reduction of prosecution powers," "economy and livelihood," and "moral issues and avoiding personal trials" each accounted for 7 percent.

By region, positive ratings remained below 50 percent in all areas except Gwangju and Jeolla, where it stood at 75 percent.

In Daegu and North Gyeongsang, the rating fell below the 30 percent mark to 26 percent, while Seoul recorded 37 percent.

Incheon and Gyeonggi recorded 43 percent, Busan, Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang 41 percent, and Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungcheong 40 percent.

By age group, positive ratings stayed in the 30 percent range for those aged 18 to 29 (31 percent), those in their 30s (35 percent), and those in their 60s (38 percent).

Conversely, those in their 40s (56 percent) and 50s (51 percent) recorded majorities.

By political affiliation, positive evaluations among supporters of the Democratic Party of Korea were 77 percent, the People Power Party 8 percent, and independents 24 percent.

It has been 1 year and 2 months since taking office in June of last year that negative evaluations of President Lee's governance reached 50 percent.

This is later than former President Yoon Suk Yeol, but somewhat faster than former Presidents Moon Jae-in and Park Geun-hye.

In Gallup Korea's historical presidential approval surveys, former President Yoon saw negative ratings exceed the 50 percent line at 53 percent in the second week of July 2022, about two months after taking office.

Former President Moon, who took office in May 2017, recorded a 53 percent negative rating in the third week of September 2019, 2 years and 4 months later.

Former President Park, who took office in February 2013, recorded a 50 percent negative rating in the fourth week of July 2014, 1 year and 5 months later.

Party support ratings stood at 39 percent for the Democratic Party of Korea and 25 percent for the People Power Party.

Compared to the previous week, the Democratic Party fell 2 percentage points, while the People Power Party showed no change.

It has been about 10 months since the Democratic Party's support rating dropped to the 30 percent range, following the third week of October last year when it recorded 39 percent.

The Rebuilding Korea Party stood at 4 percent, the New Reform Party at 3 percent, the Progressive Party at 1 percent, and independents at 26 percent.

This survey was conducted through telephone interviews using randomly extracted wireless virtual numbers.

The sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level, with a contact rate of 44.5 percent and a response rate of 9.5 percent.

Detailed information can be found on the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.