President Lee Apologizes for Sharp Drop in Approval Rating: "Sorry to the People"... Presidential Office Also Vows Humility and Attentive Listening

Sharing Poll Results on Social Media: "Humbly Accepting the Sober Public Assessment"

Presidential Office: "Reflects a Complex Evaluation of Livelihood and Governance... Will Listen to the People with Even Greater Humility"

KSOI Survey Shows 50.4% Approval Rating... Down 9.4 Percentage Points from Previous Survey

On June 10, President Lee Jaemyung expressed his apologies to the public following the release of a poll showing a sharp decline in his approval rating. The presidential office attributed the drop to a combination of public evaluations regarding economic and livelihood issues, as well as the overall state of government affairs, stating, "We will humbly accept the will of the people."

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On this day, President Lee shared an article about the decline in his approval rating on X (formerly Twitter), writing, "I am sorry, dear citizens. I humbly accept the sober assessment from the public." He continued, "I will work with even greater humility, broaden my outreach, embrace more people, and work even harder." It is unusual for President Lee to directly share poll results and issue an apology message.

In response, the presidential office also commented on the drop in approval ratings, stating, "We believe this reflects a complex assessment by the public of the current livelihood and economic situation, as well as the overall management of state affairs." The office added, "We humbly accept the will of the people and will continue to listen to the voices of the public with even greater humility moving forward." Regarding President Lee’s post on X, the office explained, "President Lee always listens carefully to various voices and public opinion delivered through markets, letters, and online channels. This latest social media post reaffirms his commitment, on the occasion of his first year in office, to listen even more keenly to the people."

According to a survey released that day by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI), President Lee’s job approval rating stood at 50.4%. This represents a decline of 9.4 percentage points compared to the fourth week of May. The disapproval rating rose to 45.7%, an increase of 10.5 percentage points during the same period. This is the first time the gap between approval and disapproval ratings has narrowed within the margin of error. The survey was conducted on June 8–9 with 1,002 eligible voters aged 18 and older nationwide, using a wireless virtual number ARS method. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

Party approval ratings also showed a concerning trend for the ruling bloc. In the same survey, the Democratic Party of Korea garnered 38.6%, while the People Power Party recorded 38.1%, narrowing the gap between the two major parties to just 0.5 percentage points. KSOI analyzed that although the ruling party generally won in the local elections, disappointing results in key battlegrounds such as the Seoul mayoral race and National Assembly by-elections contributed to the decline in support.

This message comes amid growing tension within the ruling bloc following the June 3 local elections. Although the Democratic Party maintained an overall advantage in the race, it was seen as a "victory with mixed feelings" due to the loss in the Seoul mayoral election and underperformance in some by-elections. In a press conference marking his first anniversary in office on June 8, President Lee also commented on the local election results, stating that "at the very least, it was not a success," and expressed his intention to take the outcome as a warning from the public.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.