President's Approval Rating Hits Lowest Point, Decline Has Stopped

1.3% Point Increase to 34.7% Recorded
37.2% Yoon, Leading Presidential Candidate
Over 50% in Binary Matchup

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] President Moon Jae-in's approval rating for his administration, which had fallen to its lowest point since taking office, has slightly rebounded. Analysts suggest that the so-called 'regime judgment' phase has concluded following the April 7 by-elections.

According to a survey conducted by Realmeter commissioned by YTN from April 12 to 16, targeting 2,517 voters aged 18 and over nationwide (response rate 5.9%, margin of error ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), the presidential approval rating (positive evaluation) rose by 1.3 percentage points from the previous week's aggregate to 34.7%. Negative evaluations also decreased by 1.4 percentage points to 61.5%. In the previous survey conducted during the first week of April (5?9), the approval rating had hit a record low of 33.4% since the start of the administration. Bae Cheol-ho, a Realmeter senior researcher, stated, "It is more accurate to say that the decline has stopped rather than that the approval rating has rebounded," adding, "The impact of the cabinet reshuffle on the 16th needs to be observed further."

Party support ratings showed that the People Power Party (37.1%) and the Democratic Party of Korea (30.0%) both declined by 2.3 and 0.4 percentage points, respectively. The gap between the two parties remained at 7.1 percentage points, with the People Power Party maintaining a lead outside the margin of error for five consecutive weeks.

In the next presidential candidate preference survey, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl received the highest support.

According to a survey conducted by Realmeter commissioned by YTN's 'The News' on April 16, targeting 1,011 voters aged 18 and over nationwide (response rate 3.5%, margin of error ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), former Prosecutor General Yoon led with 37.2% support.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung received 21.0%, and former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon had 11.0%. Following them were Hong Joon-pyo (5.9%), Ahn Cheol-soo (5.0%), Yoo Si-min (3.2%), and Choo Mi-ae (2.4%). Former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who stepped down on April 16 and received his first evaluation as a presidential candidate, recorded 2.4%.

In head-to-head matchups, former Prosecutor General Yoon (51.1%) led Governor Lee (32.3%) by 18.8 percentage points, and Yoon (51.6%) led former leader Lee (30.1%) by 21.5 percentage points.

For more detailed information, please refer to the website of the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission.