[AKYUNG Poll] President Moon's Approval Rating Steady in the 40% Range

'Expectations for a Return to Daily Life'
Over 30% Among Those in Their 20s

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] President Moon Jae-in's approval rating for his administration remained steady at around 40%. As COVID-19 vaccinations accelerate, expectations for a return to daily life have grown, pushing support among those in their 20s above 30%.

On the 14th, Asia Economy commissioned Win-Gi Korea Consulting to conduct a public opinion survey from the 12th to 13th, targeting 1,071 voters nationwide aged 18 and older (100% mobile phone virtual numbers, automated response). The results showed that 41.4% responded positively that President Moon Jae-in is "doing well" in his administration, unchanged from the survey conducted in the fifth week of May (May 29-30), right after the South Korea-U.S. summit, which also recorded 41.4%.

During the same period, negative responses saying "not doing well" rose slightly by 0.3 percentage points from 54.8% to 55.1%, with the gap between positive and negative responses standing at 13.7 percentage points, outside the margin of error. Those who answered "don't know" accounted for 3.4%.

By age group, support notably increased among those in their 20s and 40s. In particular, the approval rating among people in their 20s, which had not surpassed 30% even during the rebound phase immediately after the South Korea-U.S. summit, rose to 34.5% in this survey, up 5.9 percentage points from the previous survey (28.6%). This was the largest increase among all age groups. The so-called "concrete support base," those in their 40s, saw their approval rating rise from 54.2% to 57.4%, an increase of 3.2 percentage points, approaching the 60% range. Regionally, positive evaluations remained dominant in Gwangju and Jeolla (64.7%), while Seoul (38.2%), Gyeonggi and Incheon (45.1%), and Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (38.2%) each saw increases of 2.0, 2.1, and 7.3 percentage points respectively compared to the previous survey, supporting the overall steady approval ratings.

The response rate for this survey was 10.9%, with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For detailed survey information, please refer to the Win-Gi Korea Consulting website or the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.