President Lee's Approval Rating Falls 2.2 Percentage Points to 35.2% [The Asia Business Daily-Realmeter Poll]

Asia Business Daily-Realmeter Regular Poll for the Second Week of October
Job Approval Falls Amid National Assembly Audit and Other Factors
People Power Party at 41.3%, Democratic Party of Korea at 35.5%

President Lee Jae-myung’s job approval rating fell for the second consecutive week, to 35.2%. Support for the Democratic Party of Korea also dropped sharply to 35.5%, while support for the People Power Party rose to 41.3%.

According to a regular opinion poll conducted by Realmeter at the request of The Asia Business Daily and released on the 12th, President Lee’s job approval rating stood at 35.2%, down 2.2 percentage points from the weekly survey for the previous week (the first week of October). The poll was conducted from the 6th to the 8th among 1,504 voters aged 18 or older nationwide, using wireless telephone automated response interviews. The margin of error was ±2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 2.8%. Respondents who said he was doing a “very good” job accounted for 24.1%, while 11.1% said he was doing a “fairly good” job.

Negative evaluations stood at 61.4% (50.5% said “very poorly” and 10.9% “fairly poorly”), up 1.6 percentage points from the previous week’s poll. Negative evaluations thus exceeded positive evaluations by 26.2 percentage points, outside the margin of error. A total of 3.4% said they “did not know well.”

Daily figures showed the approval rating declining toward the end of the period. The daily poll put it at 38.4% on October 2, 35.2% on the 7th and 34.2% on the 8th.

By region, the rating fell by 8.7 percentage points in Daejeon, Sejong and Chungcheong (from 42.4% to 33.7%) and by 4.7 percentage points in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang (from 35.1% to 30.4%). By age group, support declined by 7.6 percentage points among those aged 70 or older (from 39.3% to 31.7%) and by 5.1 percentage points among those in their 40s (from 42.4% to 37.3%). By ideological leaning, support fell by 3.9 percentage points among conservatives (from 14.1% to 10.2%), 3.5 percentage points among moderates (from 42.7% to 39.2%) and 1.4 percentage points among progressives (from 54.4% to 53.0%).

A Realmeter official explained, “The controversy over the clash involving Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and judicial independence, the security dispute between the ruling and opposition parties over the landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), and rising rents and apartment prices in the Seoul metropolitan area have emerged as negative issues in personnel, security and real estate, drawing concentrated attention during the parliamentary audit and apparently driving the decline in approval.”

According to a party preference poll conducted from the 7th to the 8th among 1,004 voters aged 18 or older nationwide, using wireless telephone automated response interviews, support for the Democratic Party stood at 35.5%, down 7.0 percentage points from the previous week’s poll. The margin of error was ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 2.6%. Support for the People Power Party stood at 41.3%, up 2.9 percentage points.

Although the gap was within the margin of error, the parties switched places in the rankings. The gap in support between the two parties was 5.8 percentage points. The Rebuilding Korea Party received 6.3%, the New Reform Party 2.8%, the Progressive Party 1.2%, other parties 1.8%, and independents 11.0%. The Rebuilding Korea Party’s support has risen for two consecutive weeks, reaching the 6% range.

By region, support for the Democratic Party fell by 14.0 percentage points in Daejeon, Sejong and Chungcheong, 10.0 percentage points in Incheon and Gyeonggi, 6.8 percentage points in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang, and 5.7 percentage points in South Jeolla and Gwangju and North Jeolla. Support for the People Power Party rose by 11.8 percentage points in Daejeon, Sejong and Chungcheong and by 5.9 percentage points in Incheon and Gyeonggi.

By age group, support for the Democratic Party fell by 17.0 percentage points among those in their 40s, 8.8 percentage points among those in their 20s and 7.0 percentage points among those in their 60s. Support for the People Power Party rose by 5.6 percentage points among those in their 60s. By gender, support for the Democratic Party fell by 10.5 percentage points among men, while support for the People Power Party rose by 8.4 percentage points. Also drawing attention was the 14.0-percentage-point decline in Democratic Party support among progressives.

A Realmeter official said, “The Democratic Party appears to have suffered a considerable decline as support dropped, particularly among progressives and people in their 40s, amid a combination of setbacks: the controversy over the clash between Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the push for his impeachment; conflict with the Rebuilding Korea Party over the restructuring of investigative powers; and uncertainty over rents and real estate in the Seoul metropolitan area.”

Regarding the People Power Party, the official said, “The party appears to have gained from public criticism of the government and ruling party, boosting its support, as it stepped up its offensive against the government and ruling party over security issues, including the DMZ landmine explosion, early in the parliamentary audit and over the adoption of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae’s testimony and the impeachment dispute, while controversies over government policies, including a comprehensive farmland survey and investments in the United States, also added to the criticism.”

For more details about the polls, visit the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission. Starting with the second week of October, Realmeter’s regular weekly opinion polls will be conducted and released at the request of The Asia Business Daily.

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