[PollPoll News] President Lee's Approval Stays in the 40% Range for 5 Weeks... Down 0.5%p to 48.4%

Realmeter Poll Results
Democratic Party 43.1% vs People Power Party 40.0%

President Lee Jae-myung’s approval rating for his handling of state affairs has remained in the 40% range for the fifth consecutive week. In the party support poll, the gap in approval ratings between the Democratic Party and the People Power Party has narrowed to within the margin of error.

According to a public opinion poll released on July 20, 2026 by polling agency Realmeter (commissioned by Energy Economy News and conducted via wireless phone ARS from July 13 to 16 among 2,007 men and women aged 18 or older nationwide; margin of error is ±2.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level; response rate is 4.0%), the positive evaluation of President Lee’s administration decreased by 0.5 percentage points from last week, to 48.4%. The negative evaluation rose by 0.3 percentage points since the last regular poll, reaching 48.0%.

President Lee Jae-myung delivered a congratulatory speech at the opening ceremony of the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Busan on the 19th. Photo by Yonhap News

By region, there was a notable drop in support in Daejeon·Sejong·Chungcheong (down 13.8 percentage points, from 51.9% to 38.1%) and Busan·Ulsan·Gyeongnam (down 6.0 percentage points, from 49.7% to 43.7%). In contrast, support increased in Daegu·Gyeongbuk (up 15.7 percentage points, from 31.2% to 46.9%) and Jeonnam·Gwangju·Jeonbuk (up 5.9 percentage points, from 73.8% to 79.7%).

Support also declined among President Lee’s core base, including those in their 40s (down 3.8 percentage points, from 59.3% to 55.5%) and among progressives (down 5.4 percentage points, from 74.9% to 69.5%).

Realmeter explained, “While positive approval hovered in the low 50% range in daily surveys during the beginning and middle of the week, the core base of those in their 40s and progressives largely withdrew toward the week’s end, as negative economic factors such as an interest rate hike and a sharp stock market drop were compounded by conflicts within the ruling bloc over supplemental investigative rights, as well as Rhyu Si-min’s remark that ‘President Lee’s failure is inevitable.’ As a result, overall positive evaluation closed the week with a slight downward trend.”

In the party approval rating poll (also commissioned by Energy Economy News and conducted via wireless phone ARS from July 15 to 16 among 1,005 men and women aged 18 or older nationwide, with a margin of error of ±3.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level and a response rate of 4.1%), support for the Democratic Party fell by 1.7 percentage points from the previous survey to 43.1%. Support for the People Power Party rose by 1.9 percentage points from the previous survey to 40.0%.

For more details on the poll, visit the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

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