Jeju Gov. Wi Seonggon's Positive Rating Falls to 38.5%... 'Barely Scrapes' into 12th

September Job Performance Satisfaction Survey for Metropolitan and Provincial Government Heads
Superintendent Ko Eui-sook Also Falls to 9th Place
Residents' Satisfaction with Living Conditions Stands at 59.1%, Ranking 10th Nationwide

A September survey on satisfaction with the job performance of metropolitan and provincial government heads, released by polling agency Realmeter, found that positive ratings for Wi Seong-gon, governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, fell sharply from the previous month to just 38.5%, placing him 12th nationwide. Overall, residents' assessments of Jeju's government head and education superintendent remained weak.

Wi Seonggon, Governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.

According to data released by Realmeter on October 14, positive ratings for Governor Wi's job performance in September stood at 38.5%, down 4.5 percentage points from August. However, his overall ranking rose slightly to 12th from the previous month, when his ranking was not disclosed because he placed 13th or lower, allowing him to narrowly qualify for inclusion among the published results. In the July survey, Governor Wi ranked 10th nationwide, with a satisfaction rating of 46.7%.

Lee Cheol-woo, governor of North Gyeongsang Province, ranked first in satisfaction with metropolitan and provincial government heads nationwide, at 57.6%. He was followed by Park Wan-su, governor of South Gyeongsang Province, at 51.6%, and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, at 50.7%.

Meanwhile, Governor Wi was also left off the rankings in the relative party index, which compares a government head's job performance rating with the approval rating of the party to which they belong in their region.

Jeon Jae-soo, mayor of Busan, ranked first in this category, with 125.4 points.

Ratings of education and living infrastructure in Jeju also remained weak.

Job performance satisfaction for Jeju Superintendent of Education Ko Eui-sook fell 6.2 percentage points from the previous month to 41.3%, and her overall ranking dropped sharply from fifth to ninth.

Residents' satisfaction with living conditions in Jeju in September also remained at 59.1%, unchanged from the previous month, leaving the province in 10th place nationwide.

The survey was conducted by Realmeter from August 28 to 31 and September 27 to 30, among 12,800 voters aged 18 or older nationwide (800 in each metropolitan city and province), using an automated response system and random digit dialing (RDD) via landline and mobile phones.

Statistical weighting was applied by gender, age group, and region based on the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's resident registration population statistics as of the end of June 2026. The margin of error was ±3.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, and the response rate was 3.2%.

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