President Moon's approval rating falls below 40%, matching level at Cho Kuk's resignation... Lee Jae-myung ranks first in next presidential election for the first time

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] President Moon Jae-in's approval rating has fallen below 40%. This is the same level as when former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk resigned last October. Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung has surpassed Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Nak-yeon to become the top preferred candidate for the next president for the first time. The recent decline in the Democratic Party's approval rating has changed the leading presidential candidate, with some support shifting to the United Future Party.

According to a poll conducted by Gallup Korea from the 11th to the 13th of this month with 1,001 respondents nationwide, announced on the 14th, 39% of respondents said President Moon Jae-in is performing well in his duties, while 53% expressed disapproval. The positive rating dropped by 5 percentage points from the previous week, and the negative rating increased by 7 percentage points.

Until last week, both positive and negative ratings had been in the mid-40% range for five consecutive weeks, with a difference within 3 percentage points, but this gap widened to 14 percentage points. The positive rating is the lowest since his inauguration, and the negative rating is the highest, matching the levels around the third week of last October when former Minister Cho Kuk resigned.

President Moon's approval rating fell to 39% in the third week of last October, then maintained a range of 40-60% this year, even soaring to 71% in early May. However, due to issues such as real estate problems, the rating hovered around 44-45% since mid-last month before eventually dropping to the 30% range. The main reason for negative evaluations was real estate policy at 35%, with 12% responding that overall performance was insufficient. The resignation of Blue House aides and flood damage appear to have influenced this.

In the preference for the next political leader, Governor Lee Jae-myung took first place for the first time with 19%, surpassing lawmaker Lee Nak-yeon who had 17%. Governor Lee's rating surged by 6 percentage points compared to the survey conducted from the 7th to the 9th of last month, while lawmaker Lee's rating dropped by 7 percentage points.

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl's rating rose from 7% to 9%, and independent lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo also slightly increased from 1% to 2%. The decline in the Democratic Party's approval rating coincided with a drop in preference for lawmaker Lee, while Governor Lee gained at his expense, and some support shifted to opposition candidates. The results were based on open-ended responses without presenting specific candidates.

Party support showed the Democratic Party falling 4 percentage points from the previous week to 33%, while the United Future Party rose 2 percentage points to 27%. The Justice Party maintained 6%.

The survey contacted 7,871 people by phone, with a response rate of 13%, and a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points (95% confidence level). For more details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.